


Open your eyes

by Rossana_No_Maindo



Category: Mogeko Castle
Genre: ... maybe, Angst and Feels, Character Death, Defect Mogeko resurrects, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Lord Prosciutto VS Pancetta, Lord Prosciutto is evil, Other, Pancetta is a goddess, Permanent resurrection, Post Normal Ending, Reunions, Seven Special Mogekos - Freeform, They are like family, Yonaka needs to heal, Yonaka's mind is broken, but for a short period of time, why did I write this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 48,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24068839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rossana_No_Maindo/pseuds/Rossana_No_Maindo
Summary: She’s sleeping all the time. Sometimes, she can regain the power of her own body, but she doesn’t want to. She wants to be left alone… she’s… all alone now. She didn’t even care anymore what they'd do to her.[Based on Mogeko Castle – Normal End]Lord Prosciutto has control of Yonaka’s body, and their reign is falling to pieces thanks to General Hashasky’s revolution. However, they’re certain he won’t succeed… they would make sure of that.… Until those special Mogekos ruined everything.
Relationships: Defect Mogeko/Kurai Yonoka, General Hashasky/Moge-kov
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	1. Slumber

**Author's Note:**

> Let me tell you a little story: I suddenly wanted to discover more rpg games, since they're awesome, and a few weeks ago, I found this one. I laughed, I cried, and I was horrified all they way. The hell was this game? I don't know, but I loved it, and here I am, sharing a story with you. It's a little sad that the next game may not come up... but... eh, I have inspiration.  
> NOTE: Lord Prosciutto is a little unknown to me, since they don't have an actual appearance besides Yonaka, so Im' referring to the Lord Prosciutto as "they", "them", whatever, and sometimes, I'll refer to the own Yonaka.

She had been dreaming lots of things.

Sometimes, they didn’t make any sense.

 _Usually_ , they hurt.

 _Sometimes_ , they scared her.

They _always_ … broke her.

She didn’t know exactly why she kept sleeping. There were times she was able to wake up in the middle of the night, screaming her lungs out of horror and pain, but she wouldn’t move; _wouldn’t run away_. She kept breathing in and out, calming herself… then she would come back to sleep, as if those dreams meant nothing. She knew something, or someone, was taking over her body, but she didn’t even care what would happen to her anymore.

She had lost everything.

Nothing was worth fighting anymore.

Her parents weren’t that important. They didn’t care for her nor did she for them. It was like living with strangers who gave you food, a bed and a bath, nothing else. Their relationship was cold, almost like _death_ itself. She never wondered why they didn’t love her, or Shinya.

Shinya was her constant. He was always there for her. Since they were little, he always protected her from bullies in school, he assured her she was special, she was beautiful… she would smile in tears as he caressed her wet cheeks. Since she was so shy, she didn’t have much friends, and even if she did, those weren’t that close to her. They only talked when they needed to lend her notes, or if they wanted to work together for a project in school… they weren’t that close. She always preferred spending time with her brother instead of hanging out with her “friends”. She wanted to be with her brother forever, she knew she loved him, with all her soul and heart. She wanted him by her side, no matter what. Even, they promised to be together forever. They even made plans to live together, work together… they would be a true family.

Until…

She wasn’t sure what _exactly_ happened to his brother during high school, but that event changed their lives. When he came home after three days of absence, he was a mess. No matter how many times she knocked his door, he wouldn’t open. Then, out of the open, while they were alone in their home, Shinya called her to his room. Of course, she complied, he was her dearest brother; her everything. She was worried sick those days he didn’t come home, and when he did, even if he was silent, he seemed deeply disturbed.

So, when she opened the door, she didn’t expect to be cornered against the wall. She was frozen, not used to this kind of behavior from him; _never_ from him. He was so close to her face that, for a second, she thought he was going to kiss her.

She wished he did, and then he would tell her what was wrong.

He didn’t.

She had her eyes closed, waiting for this precious moment to happen.

Then, she felt his hands in her neck.

He started to strangle her.

That took her a few seconds to finally realize what was happening.

Shinya; her precious and most important person in the whole world… was trying to kill her. She struggled, trying to get free, the panic rising her aching throat, unable to breathe. When she opened her eyes, they widened as she was being stared at by red orbs.

Suddenly, letting out a soft sob of pain, she was set free.

She fell to the floor, coughing and crying as she was able to properly breathe. She brought a hand to her hammering heart, beating loudly against her chest. She couldn’t understand what, how… or why this happened. Then, she got enough courage to glance up.

He was shaking, staring at her with horror.

His eyes were back to normal.

She tried to call him, but he retreated and ran away.

She never saw him again after that.

She got a message in her cellphone, it was from her brother. It said he couldn’t be with her anymore. Of course, she argued. She insisted she wanted to be with him forever, they were meant to be together… that she was okay with this new side of him. When she mentioned the promise they made, he finally accepted. However, he never showed his face near her again. He said he wanted to be able to “control himself” around her. And she reluctantly agreed.

She wasn’t sure where did he go, but it wasn’t far. It was like he was watching over her… No, she knew he was stalking her. One day, she was being teased by some guys older than her; they were four, and she simply ignored them, trying to keep it cool like her brother would do. But she didn’t expect that a guy would grab roughly her skirt, almost tearing it. She smacked him and ran away. She thought that was it for a day. But then, by night, she got a message from his brother with a photo attached to it.

She almost puked that time.

It was a picture of four bloody tongues teared apart along with… fingers?

_I made them pay, I hope you’re happy._

Happy?

She wasn’t, but she thanked him anyway, fearing that if she said something he didn’t like, he would disappear for good.

It wasn’t the last gory picture she got from him.

She didn’t know what was wrong with his brother, but this definitely was not normal. She deleted every picture of dead, mutilated animals… even dead people… people she was sure he killed.

She came to understand his problem when she got weird messages from him asking for forgiveness, that he was tired of this “side of his”, he wanted it to end.

_Would you die for me?_

When she got that message, she almost replied “Of course”, but she was shocked when she couldn’t. What was he implying? Did he want her to die to prove her love for him? Was _he_ going to kill her?

She was taking too much time. Her hands started shaking when she got a second message.

_Would you?_

Would she?

With a dead smile, she replied.

_It’s okay, brother._

_I love you, and of course I would die for you._

When she pressed _send_ , she almost felt like she was signing a death sentence.

_Then… I’ll be home soon._

And then she cried with a smile in her face.

She was left alone some time during her first year of high school, and, for a moment, she thought her brother had forgotten about her.

She didn’t know if that was good or bad anymore.

She wanted to be with him, but… was her love strong enough to stand this madness? Her brother wasn’t okay, and he needed to get help, but… what if he couldn’t heal? Could _she_ heal him?

Then… that _fateful day_ occurred.

_Yonaka, today I’ll be home._

_Shinya_.

She read it when while she was having lunch with her classmates. Then, she lost all appetite. And when she was coming back home…

She…

She…

* * *

Lord Prosciutto in Yonaka’s body was staring down in the balcony at all Mogekos working around nervously. They were really scared of them, were they?

“My lord?”

They turned as a new Mogeko entered in the room. They couldn’t really place this one, but in Yonaka’s memories… he was known as the Somewhat Strange Mogeko. For all they knew, he was the guardian of the first floor, interested in literature, erotic poetry mostly (it was beautiful, though), and making tea parties with the other special Mogekos.

“I came to let you know the first floor is ready. I was notified that some floors are without the protection of the guardians for… obvious reasons.”

Ah, _that’s right_.

Hasu, Mogecukoo and Nega were dead. Hasu was tortured to death by Moge-ko; while Lord Prosciutto was able to forgive all Mogekos, they knew some had to _earn_ that forgiveness. Mogecukoo was hurt badly by King mogeko, his wounds were deep, and he wouldn’t make it. That was why Yonaka decided to end his suffering and decided to kill him. And Nega…

Somewhat Strange Mogeko stared curiously as the Lord’s red eyes turned dark gray for a few seconds, but they were vermilion again.

The Lord could see it in Yonaka’s memories, how that brave Mogeko was burnt to death after a fight with the king, who left him severely injured. It was weird how much affection this girl felt towards a Mogeko she knew for a few hours, but they guessed they couldn’t blame the poor girl. While she needed something or someone to lean on in this place, Nega was the only one by her side.

Yes, Nega’s death broke Yonaka’s heart… and Shinya’s… well, that ended up breaking her mind as well. They felt how she was about to snap at all Mogekos for taking away the few things she had: her innocence, Shinya, Nega… even her own sanity. They could almost taste her wish for revenge, but she didn’t, because Lord Prosciutto possessed her body.

“I see… those souls are resting now. Shame… they were still needed… but Prosciutto Paradise welcome any Mogeko, I’m sure they’re not worried about the next guardians.”

“If I may, my Lord… I’d suggest Blood Spirit to guard the seventh floor.”

“Oh?”

“You see, every special Mogeko has a special field. I am the first guardian, and I’m in charge of the investigations of every theme we have in the castle, although I’m willing to read anything. Prosciutto Fairy is in charge of taking care of the eggs that would hatch soon after, and raise them. Blood Spirit takes care of the dimensions of the castle, since all transportations and unusual paths of here are his creations. Hasu…” He paused a few seconds. “Hasu used to spread the faith of you, my Lord… and I think he did a pretty good job, since there’s so much Mogekos loving you and prosciutto.” The Lord was staring absently at the landscape, but Somewhat Strange Mogeko was sure they were listening to him. In fact, he was hoping _Yonaka_ was listening to him. “Moffuru is in charge of medicine, and is still trying to find a cure for Mofukos.” He still remembered Moffuru visiting him a few hours before Yonaka’s arriving; he had asked for a few books to find something useful for Mofukos; he wondered if he was able to find something. “Mogecukoo was in charge of the food and the interaction of other beings in the forest… and farther, since he was one of the few able to leave the castle.” He stopped a few seconds once again, studying the girl’s empty expression. He didn’t know how much asleep was Yonaka in her body, so he needed to find a strategy to know that. “And Nega was the guardian of protection. He was in charge of all the weapons and tools to protect the castle; besides, he was good making weapons.” He stared deeply at the thing that was firmly guarded in the back of the girl. “Like that knife you got there.”

The Lord finally looked at him.

“When Yonaka came to the castle, I gave her that knife you have there. It’s special, able to kill any Mogekos in one stab.”

When the king announced Nega was found to be a defect, the others special Mogekos wouldn’t believe it. Nega was their friend, their comrade; sure, he was a little different from the others, but he wasn’t an abominatio because of that. Since he was pursued through the castle as a criminal, he suffered several wounds, so he decided to make his own weapon to defend himself, since his katana was in the fifth room, in the hospital. The specialty of killing his own kind was gifted by Blood Spirit, who silently help him, but that was all he could do. Somewhat Strange Mogeko remembered the special Mogekos were about to make a rebellion for Nega’s sake, but the guardian of the seventh floor neglected the idea. He asked them to play as if he wasn’t one of them anymore, and could have the king’s trust… and that way, maybe, they could defeat him.

He wasn’t sure if Lord Prosciutto knew that already, since he was a deity, but he preferred to omit that information.

And finally, he saw it.

The girl’s blank expression broke into a pained, almost a broken one.

And it was gone.

“Mm… Moge-ko seems suitable to be in charge of seventh floor, since her specialty of punish heretics… is kind of handy. However, I insist she needs to earn that position.”

Somewhat Strange Mogeko almost grimaced. It was like shaming Nega’s memory by putting Moge-ko in his place.

“I see. About the others floors…”

“We’ll see that later, once the others floors are ready.”

“Alright, my Lord. Thank you for your attention.”

He came to the first floor, to his room. When he opened the door, his visitors were already there. They all stared at him, expectant.

“There _is_ hope.”

This tea party was just getting started.

* * *

General Hashasky was so glad when he found his group. They were all crying over him reprimanding him for leaving them alone, and he apologized quickly. They needed to get out before Moge-ko found them. It was a good thing that she got distracted by the arrival of the high school girl before she could torture him. The general almost felt bad when he thanked that human’s arrival. She didn’t deserve any of this.

So, when they were able to get out, they were almost out of Mogeko Woods, but then decided to make a fire and wait there. Moge-kov had called, and said she needed them in that exact place so they could talk.

They were about to eat, but they stopped when they sensed someone’s arrival.

“Wh-Who’s there?!” asked a startled general.

“It’s me, my General.” A soft, yet cold voice replied. “I’m so pleased to see you’re okay.”

The Hashasky let out a long sigh of relief to find his most important subordinate appear before him.

“Welcome back, Moge-kov.”

“Thank you, my General.”

A female Hashasky species appeared before him. She was wearing a matching suit to his, and a pretty hat covering her ears. Her long platinum blond hair danced in the window, and her sparkling blue eyes.

“It’s been really a while…” The general mentally cursed, his words were stumbling dumbly, ashamed and nervous of her presence. “Yo-your hair has… grown quite a bit.”

“Yes, indeed.”

 _Ugh_.

This was, indeed, embarrassing.

“I apologize, Moge-kov… I let my guard down… and Moge-ko caught…-”

“I got some intel just now, it’s from our spy from the castle.”

“O-Oh! Ye-Yes! Proceed.” He cleared his throat and nodded.

Moge-kov sat in front of him without saying more. The general would have liked to ask her if she was okay or hurt during the way of coming here.

“Three of the seven special Mogekos are dead. But the one giving us information is still alive, if you’re concerned about that.”

“Three? Why? What happened?”

“Something about a high school girl breaking in the castle… This caused several problems. We’re used King mogeko using girls by his own sick pleasure, but this girl was able to get away from them and…” A little frown appeared on her face.

“… What’s wrong?”

“Those special Mogekos died because they tried to help her to go back to her world. The thing is, not only the human was able to get away, but she came back as well.”

The general gulped.

Was she talking about…?

“And she killed mogeko.”

“What?!” exclaimed the general. “B-But…! She seemed so innocent!”

Moge-kov raised an eyebrow at him, glaring at him. The general flinched.

“Oh? You _knew_ her?”

“It’s… It’s not what you think! I was imprisoned by Moge-ko! I was so desperate and I cried for help and… and… the girl heard me. She and a weird Mogeko helped me… that’s why… Don’t be mad!”

Moge-kov squinted her beautiful eyes, but then sighed.

“I see. Too bad I won’t be able to thank her properly.”

“I thought she came back?”

“She did, but, according to our spy, he said something happened to this girl. She had… _snapped_. Her mind seemed to break during her stay in the castle… and then, she even was able to _hurt_ Moge-ko, and killed mogeko. She used his head as a prize of her killing. Our guy said he thought she was going to slaughter them all, but this is the thing that we need to worry about now.” She turned deadly serious.

The general loudly gulped.

“This girl, it seems, was possessed by some kind of deity. She called herself Lord Prosciutto, the one all Mogekos praise all the time. So, she ended up being the “king” of the castle. Honoring the girl’s name, now it’s called _Yonaka Castle_.”

General Hashasky stared at the female in horror.

“It’s… some kind of joke? Are you sure this guy didn’t trick you or…?”

“They were all witness to the girl losing her mind, and then floating like a feather, I don’t think he’s lying.”

“… So, what now? The king is dead… that’s what we’ve wanted for so long… and now, we have to take down a human?” asked the general.

Moge-kov stared the blaze in the wood fire.

“We still need to take care of Moge-ko.”

“What if this deity wants to defend her? We can’t win against a god.”

“Our spy will tell us if we need to worry about that…”

He nodded.

“… So, about those special Mogekos… who are the ones that died?”

* * *

It was snowing.

Lord Prosciutto was watching the snowflakes falling while they were taking a bath. Even being in a girl’s body, they didn’t want to look awful for her. It was curious how a human body worked. It seemed so fragile, yet, because of their power, they seemed invincible. They smiled as they used the girl’s fingertips to touch the wet skin. She was so smooth…

She could easily be broken over and _over again_.

They sometimes let out the girl, only at night, so her dreams would be more sensitive, and she would cry out and wake up. Then, she would go to sleep again. Yonaka didn’t care what would happen to her body anymore.

But Lord Prosciutto did care.

She was their new vessel. And they needed her, so her body needed to be protected. Besides, it was a very beautiful body.

Humans were weak, but gorgeous.

They smiled as they used the fingers to brush her damp hair.

Suddenly, _she was back_.

Her dark gray eyes inspected the room. She was in a very big bathtub, it was so warm in here, but there was a chilly feeling biting her back. She turned and looked at the opened window, where she could see the snow.

Yonaka squinted her eyes, they were filled with tears.

She hugged her knees and sobbed quietly.

Why did she keep coming back? She didn’t want to keep going. She already gave her body to this weird deity. Why did they give her time to gain control of her body? She didn’t care anymore! She was all alone, no one would be there for her, she just…

She just wanted to die and be left alone.

If she died, she could see Shinya, and would apologize to him for not being able to save him from whatever happened to him to split his personality.

She could see Defect Mogeko as well, and she would hug him and thank him for protecting her since they met.

But she was still alive… and they were dead.

Slowly, she let her body slid completely in the bathtub. She didn’t even take enough air to resist. She just wanted to finish this…

Then, the Lord was back.

 _No!_ , she screamed mentally.

“I’m sorry, my beautiful child.” Lord Prosciutto got out of the tub and walked towards the mirror.

Even with the steam, Yonaka, through the Lord’s red eyes, stared right back at her face, coldly smiling at her reflection.

“But I can’t let you go.”

* * *

“Do you think we can do it?”

“Naturally, it would be easier if we were all together, but that’s not the case. This would take a lot of energy from us, but I guess it’s the best option.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Thanks to mogeko and Moge-ko, we lost three Mogekos; three of us.” He frowned. “Why are you doubting?”

“Of course, I’m against all the things the king and the queen have done, but… Think! Lord Prosciutto haven’t done anything yet! They even stopped Moge-ko’ tyranny! Why would we want to stop them? They’ve been… an excellent king. Even stopping the Mogekos from abusing other humans…”

Somewhat Strange Mogeko sighed. Of course, Prosciutto Fairy was right. They were… _prospering_. But the way they were doing it wasn’t okay. The Lord couldn’t use an innocent human’s body to do that.

“Mogecukoo and Nega died helping the girl. Do you think they would have wanted her to be a prisoner of her own body? We just need to find a way to convince the king to free Yonaka. Then, they can do whatever they like, it’s not like we have a say against their word…”

Blood Spirit was silent, listening to their friends discussing. He glanced briefly at Moffuru, who was silent, slurping tea. Somewhat Strange Mogeko was the wisest of all them, but even his idea was crazy. This could cost their lives.

“The other thing is Moge-ko.” The red Mogeko decided to talk. “She’s infatuated with the Lord. Since it’s a deity in a pretty girl’s body with amazing power, I think that’s Moge-ko’s type. And she would do anything to stop us.”

“That’s why we need to bring _him_ back, even if it’s for one night. It’ll be enough.”

“How can you be so sure?” asked Prosciutto Fairy.

“Hoo, hoo…” Moffuru’s voice interrupted Somewhat Strange Mogeko’s reply. “I think he’s the only one able to bring Yonaka back. When I saved them from Moge-ko’s monster, they were pretty fond of each other. I say, I’ve never seen Nega-Mogeko acting so compassionate towards someone, besides Hasu and Blood Spirit, of course.”

“Hmph, I knew that little lady would bring some change upon us, but I didn’t think it would be this big.” Chuckled bitterly Somewhat Strange Mogeko. “Then, it’s our best option: bringing Nega back.”

“I guess…” muttered Prosciutto Fairy.

“I’m in.” Nodded Blood Spirit.

“Me too.” Smiled Moffuru.

“I just hope this doesn’t make the situation worse.” Said the fairy. The special Mogekos stared at him. “I-I mean…! If what Moffuru said is true… th-that those two were all lovey-dovey…”

“I never said that…”

“Whatever! Don’t you think this would bring a great amount of pain for miss Yonaka? If your spell works…” he directed towards Somewhat Strange Mogeko. “… then it would be until dawn for them to reunite. Nega would have to leave again, Yonaka would be left alone all over again! And that will hurt us too! He was our friend!” replied with tears in his eyes.

Moffuru sighed. From all four, Prosciutto Fairy took their special Mogeko friends’ deaths the hardest. Since they were all friends, the fairy was the most sensitive of all them, and losing them was a low blow. He wasn’t expecting such tragedy to happen. He already had a bad time when Nega was imprisoned unfairly, and it worsened when the green Mogeko gave up and preferred to wait for his death sentence.

“None of us were able to say good-bye… I couldn’t even apologize for calling him a dummy when he decided to just die!” mourned the fairy. “And then, this… I couldn’t stand it again…”

“He trusted us… that we would understand, someday… eventually.” Said very quietly Blood Spirit. “We have to still trust him if we bring him back.” He put a red hand on the fairy’s shoulder, but then the yellow fur got tainted with blood. “Oops… sorry.”

Prosciutto Fairy sighed and dried his tears.

“I-It’s fine… Thank you. I’ll be able to see him… and say I’m sorry.”

Moffuru and Somewhat Strange Mogeko smiled at each other.

“Well then, when are we going to do this?” asked after calming down.

“We have to wait for the signal.”

“ _Their_ signal?”

“Yes.”

“Okay… then, we need to take care of each other, in case… something happens?”

“Of course, I’ll keep inviting you to my tea parties, like the good old times.” Offered Somewhat Strange Mogeko. “In this parties, we can plan everything. Yes?”

They nodded.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko nodded, but stopped smiling. He glanced at the open book, in a particular chapter.

**_Pancetta: the true miraculous deity_ **

* * *

Moge-ko suppressed a growl.

“Is something wrong?”

“No.”

Lord Prosciutto was sitting on Moge-ko’s back, who was acting as a chair supporting herself with arms and legs. She couldn’t believe she was doing this, however, she wouldn’t let anyone blame her for that. She was created to be a female Mogeko, but ended up being much smarter and stronger than that dumbass mogeko, and ruled by his side, but never let him touch her. These were a bunch of horny idiots by _her_ command. She thought no one could take her down, not even the seven special Mogekos, who specially avoided her at all costs.

And then, the girl appeared.

She was adorable, like any shy high school girl, and Moge-ko wanted to play with her until she died, however, she did get out, she avoided her ways and ran away from her, pissing her off. And when she came back, she dared to _hurt_ her; she used that weird aerosol in her eyes, and it took three days healing her eyes. And she found out what happened to the girl. She was containing a deity, and now… she was completely different.

The once scared and shy girl was all gone. Now, there was a pretty girl with cold red eyes, pretending to be a good being, when she really wasn’t. Yes, Moge-ko had played with her toys pretending to care about them, to later break them all over again, in heart and mind… physically as well. She recognized a cynical look when she saw one. She was sure this deity was as wonderful as her; that was why she wanted it so bad, to rule by their side. Lord Prosciutto had all the power, and Moge-ko wanted to keep her role as the “queen”, but the deity replied they’d think about it, but, meanwhile, she needed to do everything they asked.

That was a low blow, though. Now, many Mogekos were losing the fear they once felt towards her, but she could gain it back! Once she seduced Lord Prosciutto, everything would be like she always wanted, without mogeko getting in the way.

A very familiar sound was heard all around the castle.

“Mm, I think it’ll be supper soon.” Muttered the deity in the high school girl’s body. She got up from Moge-ko and smiled deadly at her. “Why don’t you come along, my dear?”

“Yes, my Lord.” She returned the wicked smile.

It was weird, how close she was to them. She could just rip her head off and be done with this. But, deep down, Moge-ko knew that, if she ever planned to do it, the Lord would know. Now, they were walking freely, almost dancing towards the dining room. The gleeful red eyes entered, and all Mogekos stopped moving as they stared at Yonaka’s arrival. Everyone bowed their heads in respect, trembling in horror.

At first, they were so honored to have Lord Prosciutto with them, but then they realized how calmly wicked they were. And that was wonderful by Moge-ko’s eyes. When a Mogeko did something wrong, the king would allow Moge-ko to do the punishment. The good thing was that everyone had to look at the execution; the bad thing was that Moge-ko only had two hours to kill him. That was less fun, but watching all the creatures’ faced contorted in terror was enough.

_Lord Prosciutto forgives all Mogekos… even the ones who do wrong…_

_They’ll be better… in the other life_

That was the thing they always said when the Mogeko was killed.

“Mm... some Mogekos are missing…”

“You mean the specials? Oh, they should be eating in the weird bastard’s room.” Replied, referring to Somewhat Strange Mogeko’s place.

“Well, _too bad_.” There was a dismal pretty smile in Yonaka’s face. “Now I’m in the mood of all of us eating together, _now_.” Her voice sounded deep. “Would you fetch them for me?”

“My pleasure.”

It wasn’t much trouble since the Mogeko’s room was near the dining room, so she took two minutes to get there. She was about to break in all giddy, but something stopped her.

“They’re already here. We could do it tomorrow.”

“Yes, we can’t waste any more time.”

“I’ll give Hashasky the sign, then.”

As the last word slipped out from Somewhat Strange Mogeko, the door was abruptly pulled apart by the female Mogeko, who was looking at them with a hot fury, her eyes blood red.

“ **What… are you talking about?!** ”

“Oh, dear…” she heard Moffuru mutter under his breath.

“ **How DARE you to betray the Lord, you SCUM!** ” spat at Somewhat Strange Mogeko. Surprisingly, he was the less scared of Moge-ko.

“Oh? Are you really asking?”

“Don’t provoke her, you idiot!”

“ **You TRAITORS! TRAITORS! ALL OF YOU! KILL! I’M GONNA KILL Y’ALL!** ” she kept screaming. “ **WHY WON’T YOU ALL JUST DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!** ” Moge-ko pulled out her knife, staying in the doorframe. “ **YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS! THE LORD NEEDS TO BE WITH ME! ME! FOREVER, YOU DISGUSTING TRASH**!”

“What a yandere…”

“You’re really NOT helping!” protested Prosciutto Fairy. “What do we do?!”

“ **GUAAAAAAAAAARDS! USELESS! YOU ALL USELESS! GET HERE, GET HERE NOW!** ” kept screaming the female. “ **YOU’RE ALL GONNA DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIEEEE!** ”

“Everyone, grab my hand.” Ordered Blood Spirit.

“Oh, gross…” said Moffuru when his fluffy white hand got tainted with blood.

“You have better ideas?!” snapped Prosciutto Fairy. Then he looked at Somewhat Strange Mogeko, who grabbed a book and approached them.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“ **NO!** ” roared Moge-ko.

Blood Spirit focused all his power to teleport. His blood-sweat engulfed all the Mogekos and they disappeared in a red steam.

When the other Mogekos arrived, they encountered a very pissed off Moge-ko.

“You… all of you… SLOWPOKES! **USELESS! YOU SHOULD DIE AT THE CROSS!** ”

* * *

All four Mogekos fell abruptly in the cold, soft snow. They were all covered in blood.

“ _Eww_! I swear, I hope this’ll be the last time we have to teleport like that.” Groaned Moffuru, using the own snow to clean himself.

“You’re welcome.” Deadpanned the red Mogeko.

“But really, you saved our tails back there…” muttered Prosciutto Fairy.

“Yes, indeed.” Said Somewhat Strange Mogeko, who was reading the book he took.

“What are you DOING?! They’ll be chasing us with torches, rocket-launchers AND Moge-ko! Why are you reading now?!”

“Do you want to bring him back or not?” asked exasperated the guardian of the I floor.

“O-Of course!”

“Then be quiet and let me read. We can’t miss a single detail of this, and let Blood Spirit to rest. Teleporting takes a lot of his energy, and he could get hurt during the incantation.” He sighed. “I could really use a cup of tea now… I should’ve brought the kettle as well…”

Prosciutto Fairy sighed. Then he stared at Blood Spirit. The Mogeko was panting a little, and looked tired.

“You okay?”

“Yes. Give me a second…”

Moffuru looked around. They were in the Mogeko Woods.

“We could look for the General Hashasky and Moge-kov.”

“That’s a wonderful idea. I bet they have tea.” Somewhat Strange Mogeko got up and nodded.

* * *

She dreamed.

She dreamed so many things… she wondered if some dreams repeated themselves. She wasn’t sure anymore.

There was a dream where she decided to not to enter the castle, but then, the Mogekos caught her, and then started to brutally grope her body.

_Now, Yonaka-tan. Play with us Moge-tans… For a fun… fun… E-ver-las-ting dream~ on our wedding night…_

How could a dream feel so real? It hurt… it hurt…

 _It hurts!_ , cried desperately.

Then, she would dream other things.

Like, when she would be wandering around the castle’s darkness, the shadows would consume her… devour her.

_What… did I come for?_

_Why am I here?_

Nothing would make sense.

Not even her own words…

_Who… am I?_

_I…_

_I am…_

Not even she was making any sense…

And then… nothing. Everything would turn black.

She’d dream of coming to a weird room in the second floor, where she found countess Mogeko larvae, they would swarm her body. It would hurt, because they were being intrusive and violent. They would enter into her entrails and would destroy her insides by creating “new life” from her.

She wouldn’t even make a single word… the pain was too much, it was destroying her.

… Well, there was that _other dream_ she had frequently as well.

Briefly after setting free Mr. Defect Mogeko, they would wander near a big cell full of violent Mogekos, growling and screaming in hunger. She didn’t know what possessed her, but she would press the button…

And they would die.

It would be fast, really. Those Mogekos were _desperate_ for something to eat. Those who were lucky to fetch them, wouldn’t dare to share the meal. In a sea of Mogekos, she wouldn’t see the green friendly one. All she would see would be those Mogeko teeth in her flesh, tearing her rapidly apart.

It was fast, yes…

But it still hurt.

…

Dreams with Moge-ko there… were _worse._

They would be careless, and they’d be captured by Moge-ko. She would easily kill Mr. Defect Mogeko, and then she’d use Yonaka for her sick games.

**_Do you really wanna go home?_ **

_Hey… do you?_

No…

And still, she’d say yes.

_Well, I suppose fooling yourself is one way to live, isn’t it?_

_But Moge-ko hates that… So… **She enjoys taking lives** …_

**_And I’ll take Yonaka-tan’s too_ ** _…_

Suddenly, she’d change her mind, and decide she’d be Moge-ko’s toy.

Why didn’t she just… kill her?

**_I’ll make you have fun… Aaall the way… ‘til you die…_ **

Fortunately, after that dream… she would have one a little funny.

She would be in the fifth floor. And she would find a weird white bug in one of the rooms Moffuru was guarding. And then, it would jump right into her mouth.

She would cry histerically, but… looking at it from third person’s point of view, it should look funny. Then, she would be _aaaaall_ fluffy.

Mr. Defect Mogeko would reprimand her for being so careless, but he wouldn’t really mean being rude towards her. She would have clear she would die.

And still… it didn’t sound so bad.

When she dreamed of her brother, she would suffer as much as Moge-ko’s dreams. It wasn’t like her brother would act the same way, but it had a heavy feeling, since she loved him so much… and dying by his own hands…

Yes, she would dream she couldn’t run away from him because of fear. She loved him so much, she didn’t want to leave him alone… but she didn’t want to die.

Too bad. Shinya wouldn’t care about what she wanted.

He would stab her… countless times. It would hurt from her belly… then to her stomach, then her chest… and finally, the beginning of her neck. The last thing she would see would be Shinya’s cruel smile.

There was another ending of that confrontation with her brother in her dreams. At first, it would happen like it _really_ did. She would unexpectedly kill him, but then, he would thank her for ending this. And she’d be so happy that he was back, at least, in his last moments. She was so happy that… she wanted to rest to.

_I’m… So very… happy…_

She would want to end this as well, so she could reach her brother… she would take those pills… thinking that, maybe, fate wasn’t that cruel… and would set her free.

But then, she wouldn’t be able to do it.

She would hear it…

 _No_ …

 _No_!...

 ** _NO_** …!

**_AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_ **

She would hear his voice; mogeko’s voice… tormenting her…

**_Hey Yonaka hey Yonaka!!!!_ **

**_What should we play today!!!!_ **

**_Oh! Can’t hear me!!!!_ **

**_GYAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA!!!!_ **

She was dead, but alive at the same time. She couldn’t be free.

**_Isn’t that nice!!!_ **

**_You get to sleep happy…_ **

**_And I get to PLAY with you!!_ **

Never…

**_Don’t worry, I’ll ALLLLLLLLLLLLLWAYS be here at your side!!!!!_ **

**_Sleep your life away with all that relief, Yonaka!!!!_ **

**_GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA_ **

“Oh…”

**_WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!!!!_ **

The girl’s eyes blinked.

**_C’mon!! Let’s play!! With Moge-tan!!_ **

Tears fell from the red orbs.

**_FORRREEEVVVEEERRR!!!!!!!!!_ **

Lord Prosciutto touched the wet cheeks and warm skin with the fingertips of the female. The human was, _indeed_ , broken. She could even cry with the deity unable to stop it. They cleaned the beautiful face with care, and the red eyes stared at the mirror. She got close to it and almost kissed the reflection.

“Stop it, Yonaka-tan~… I’m not really in a good mood. So, you better stop it…” whispered against the glass, steam forming in it. “Thanks to your friends… I’m not in the best of terms… so… before they ruin everything… I’ll have to… show them the right way… in the next life… if you know what I mean.”

**_Where there is Mogeko, there is nightmare~_ **


	2. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had until dawn to meet her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really thank all the views, kudos and comments! I thought the fandom was a little dead, and it would take some time to get some kind of review. But I'm happy there're some still!  
> P.S.: English is not my native language, so, if you find something weird or bad written, don't get surprised. Although, feel free to point it out so I can correct it.  
> Hope you guys enjoy this episode.  
> This fanfic won't be this long, since it had very long chapters... I think it will have... like, five to seven chapters, I think, I'm still not sure.

“You guys were discovered?!?!?!?!” exclaimed General Hashasky.

“Why I’m not surprised…” muttered Moge-kov.

“Moge-ko was th-there! We didn’t expect her to come to the room! She was always so clingy with Lord Prosciutto…! How were we suppose to know she was going to hear us?!”

The general shuddered at hearing Moge-ko’s name, and that didn’t go unnoticed by Moge-kov, who squinted her pretty eyes. Somewhat Strange Mogeko stared at her, then looked up. The moon was almost at its peak point.

“… Blood Spirit, how are you feeling?”

“Better. Surprisingly, frozen yogurt is delicious.”

“Wh-What are you saying! It’s _marvelous_!” protested the general.

“If you say so, maybe I’ll get a taste of it once this is over… if we make it.”

“D-Don’t say that!” Prosciutto Fairy didn’t like how the guardian of the first floor said that.

“Fine… then… let’s promise this: if we make it out alive, we’ll do another tea… err… yogurt party. Happy?”

“YES!”

“Fine, sounds promising.”

“Yes, why not.”

The Hashaskys, the general and Moge-kov stared at the guardians in silence. It was surprising at first, when Somewhat Strange Mogeko started talking to them by letters, giving them information about the castle, about mogeko and Moge-ko.

“… Why… why are you helping us?” decided to ask the general.

Moge-kov stared intently.

The Mogekos looked at each other, until Somewhat Strange Mogeko talked with a smile.

“Eh, just on a whim… and for a little of payback I guess.” General Hashasky kept silent. “You see, Moge-ko killed one of us… and the former king ended two more lives… they were pretty important to us. They were family, you see. Since we’re special, we’re not like the others Mogekos, and we could understand each other without talking about sex, prosciutto or raping innocent people.” Shrugged the Mogeko.

General Hashasky finally remembered who the green beat up Mogeko was. Although he never met him in person until that day, he felt quite bad when he found out what happened to him and Yonaka. He could had invited them to join them, to fight against Mogeko castle… and grant them the protection they needed. If he…

“You’re doing ‘the face’, my General.” Moge-kov’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

He blushed.

“Ye-Yes! Sorry!”

“Well, now let’s get going.” Announced the guardian of the first floor. “The moon is at its peak.”

“Alright.”

“We’ll see you later.”

The four special Mogekos ran to the depths of the woods, banishing easily from sight.

The general and Moge-kov stared at each other.

“Now what?”

“Now, we fight.”

“… Eh?”

“Don’t you sense them, my general? They’re getting closer…” whispered looking to the direction where the castle was.

The general could smell them, there were hundreds… thousands of Mogekos coming this way, and tensed when he sensed Moge-ko as well.

“Don’t worry, my general.” He rapidly glanced up, Moge-kov’s voice, always cold and hard, had a soft and caring voice, but she wasn’t looking at him. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I’m going to protect you.”

“Moge-kov…”

“Are you all ready?” all Hashaskys flinched at the new loud and demanding voice.

She was full of surprises.

“Ye-Yes, ma’am!”

“We have to protect the general! Even if it costs our lives, we’ll protect him!”

“Yes!!!!” Now they sounded more confident.

Hashaskys were pretty loyal to General Hashasky. They would be honored to die for him.

However, that wasn’t something the general preferred or wanted…

* * *

Lord Prosciutto was in the king’s throne, sitting all alone. They ordered all Mogekos, including Moge-ko, to slaughter the special Mogekos, since them were sided with the Hashaskys.

Honestly, that wasn’t something they cared…

But it _infuriated_ them a little that these special Mogekos were against them. After all this time, they were watching over all Mogekos, even them! They took good care of Hasu, the little one who scattered the faith of Lord Prosciutto… and that was how they were paying them?

There was a frown in the girl’s pretty face.

They knew, they knew these Mogekos wanted to get rid of their deity. _How dare they?_

Why did these Mogekos wanted to set free this human?

Kurai Yonaka was completely broken. There was nothing for them to do…

 _Unless_ …

Red eyes glowed mercilessly.

“How dare they…”

* * *

“ **Die, die, die, DIEEEE!!!! ALL OF YOU!!** ”

It was reasonable Moge-ko was _furious._

She already killed ten Hashaskys since the Mogekos encountered the white creatures. The female was frustrated that these were good at combat, unlike the useless Mogekos. They were fighting back, even the yellow ones outnumbering them, the Hashaskys were stronger.

“ **Tell me where they are! NOW!** ”

“Would you look at that… it almost hilarious seeing you like this.”

She glanced up when she heard that voice. She _loathed_ that voice. There, above a huge rock, stood Moge-kov. Her azure eyes shined maliciously, and took out her weird sword.

“It’s been a while…”

“ **YOU** …!!”

“We can’t let you pass… and you have a debt with me.”

“ **WHAT!!!! Why would I owe anything to YOU?!?!** ”

“You do, Moge-ko.” She got down of the rock and walked towards her. “You took our general away… you took MY general.”

Moge-ko barked out a laugh.

“Are you KIDDING me?! You’re angry because I took your wimpy general! That piece of trash is useless!!!! He couldn’t even fight against me, ME! And you know WHY?! **BECAUSE I AM MOGE-KO! I’M THE QUEEN OF MOGEKO CASTLE AND LORD PROSCIUTTO IS MY KING!!!!** ”

Moge-kov seemed unfazed by her words. Instead, a small, wicked smile appeared on her cold lips.

“We’ll see about that.”

* * *

.

.

.

Some believed it would be wonderful to live forever, or maybe, coming back to life.

However, it was painful as hell.

It felt like he was dying all over again. First, he felt the fire putting back the flesh it once burnt, then, an immense aching in the left arm he lost against king mogeko. All scratches, stabs and the gunshot wound were all over again.

It hurt.

Finally, he could breathe.

“… Did we do it?” he heard first.

“Don’t you see him there?”

“I-I do! But he hasn’t woken up yet!”

“Hoo… look at those scars, I knew he was hurt, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

“I could smell his blood all over the sixth floor that day…”

He was breathing, but still, he didn’t feel that pain in his wounds anymore. He moved his left arm.

Something was _wrong_.

“ _Why am I alive?_ ”

Everyone flinched at hearing him.

“I-It worked!”

“Welcome back.”

“Nega! You’re back!!!!”

“ _Why am I alive?_ ” asked again, finally able to see the shadows almost above him. Somewhat Strange Mogeko, Prosciutto Fairy, Blood Spirit and Moffuru were staring at him. They moved so he could sit up. The first thing he did was to look at his left arm. He could move it easily, as if nothing had happened. But it did, he saw the scars; all the scars that showed him that what happened to him wasn’t a dream.

He shuddered when he remembered mogeko’s big eye staring at him gleefully when he tore his arm apart.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“ _If you had answered my first question, maybe_.” Said a little pissed. They kept avoiding the reason they…

They _really_ brought him back.

“Let’s order our thoughts.” Proposed Somewhat Strange Mogeko, sitting in the snow. Soon, the others followed him. They were exhausted, they couldn’t even stand up anymore. “What is the last thing you remember?”

Nega stared at him.

“… _The fire, I was_ …”

“Just _that_?”

“ _Yeah_.”

“You don’t remember anything from the other side?” asked curious the fairy.

“ _No… not really_.”

“Mm, I guess that, since you were brought back, those memories were taken away for respect of Heaven.”

“It’s a possibility.” Asserted Moffuru.

Nega was starting to get frustrated. None of their question made any sense. He was sure he wasn’t brought back to life for a little chit-chat. Something was wrong, _they knew_ he knew. Why were they…

Oh…

 _Oh, no_ …

“ _Did_ she _escape_?”

They tensed. Somewhat Strange Mogeko was the only one who stared directly at him.

“… Yes… but she came back.”

“ _What?! Why would she do that?!_ ”

Prosciutto Fairy seemed terrified, Blood Spirit and Moffuru had somber looks on their faces.

The guardian of the first floor in the castle sighed.

“It’s kind of a long story, Nega… you know we wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t desperate.” A cynical smile was plastered in his face. “And for the record… you’re not _exactly_ alive either…”

* * *

If there was something General Hashasky hated with all his soul, it was how everyone treated him like he was made of glass. Even his own troops would push him away to keep him safe, and Moge-kov wouldn’t look at him while fighting against Moge-ko. _He_ should be the one fighting that female demon, not her. And it really infuriated him the fact he felt so scared to even step up for his partner. What if Moge-kov got hurt…? What if she died? If something happened to her, he wouldn’t forgive himself.

He stared in horror as a Hashasky got to near in the fight, and Moge-ko, blind in rage, grabbed him and tore his head apart from his body. He noticed Moge-kov tensing instantly at that. Cackling hysterically, Moge-kow threw the head towards the silver blond female, but she dodged it.

“You’ll end up the same way! **I’ll even eat your insides!!** ”

Moge-kov’s cerulean eyes shined dangerously.

“I’d like to see you try…”

The Hashasky’s head fell at the general’s feet, who let out a little “Eeek!” at looking at it. Around him, Hashaskys and Mogekos kept fighting against each oher. The white creatures were losing in quantity, but they were more skilled than the yellow ones.

 _I have to fight too_ , he thought.

There was a sword on the ground, so he took it. He didn’t like violence, but he was doing this for his people.

Moge-ko hit Moge-kov’s sword off with the back of her knife. Then, she pushed her to the ground.

“No!”

Letting go of the weapon, he ran towards the females and stood before his greatest fear: Moge-ko smiled cruelly.

“Look at that~… he’s _soooo_ adorable, trying to save you.” She growled, her red eyes glowing. “ **It makes me want to puke** …”

He couldn’t stop shaking, he was paralyzed staring at Moge-ko.

“ **I’m starting to think killing you both instantly won’t be such a good idea… but I could have fun with you two until you die… slowly… watching each other dying slowly… how does that sound?** ”

“General, you need to run.” Moge-kov’s icy voiced snapped him out of his state.

“No!” he shook his head. “You all always do stuff for me, but I never protect you!! What kind of ruler am I if I’m exactly like mogeko and… and… HER?!”

“General…”

“ **STOP TALKING LIKE I’M NOT HERE!!!! I’M MOGE-KO! I’M THE CUTE AND ADORABLE MOGE-KO!! NO ONE IGNORES ME! NO ONE!!!!** ” She pointed her knife at the general. “ **I’m going to take your little fingers, then your arms and legs** …”

“Aahhh!”

“ _Geez, she’s still as crazy as I remember_ …”

She stopped abruptly at hearing a voice she thought she’d never hear again.

“You really thought she’d change?” asked Somewhat Strange Mogeko.

“ _No, but even being dead she gives me the creeps_ …”

The three glanced up, looking at the special Mogekos staring at them from a huge rock. There was a fifth one; one who was supposed to be dead.

“They did it…” whispered the general.

“Yes.” Asserted Moge-kov.

Even the great Moge-ko, the one who was truly feared as much as the Lord Prosciutto, was in shock in finding the seventh guardian of Mogeko Castle standing almost above her. Nega stared at her right back; if he were alive… if he hadn’t died… he wouldn’t stand look at her too long. She was terrifying, but now that he had a taste of death, he wasn’t that afraid of her, nor of the pain anymore.

_We used a conjuring from the Goddess Pancetta to bring you back_

Somewhat Strange Mogeko was always curious about others deities, powerful creatures surpassing them. It wasn’t weird finding him always reading while drinking tea in his room. He remembered that when he found out about Pancetta, he was reading about it every day. And when Nega-Mogeko became a prisoner, he stopped reading to find a way to help his friend.

 _Ironically_ , the answers were in that book; a book that they shared once.

_However, it has its limits_

Nega noticed the Hashaskys moving away from Moge-ko, and the female Hashasky was able to get her sword back. Then she swung it against the blonde, who retreated, still in shock. Her red eyes glared at the scarred Mogeko.

“ **HOW!!!! He killed you?!?! I ENJOYED THE SHOW OF SEEING YOU BURN TO DEATH! WHY ARE YOU HERE!!!!** ”

He didn’t even answer her. He moved and looked at the special Mogekos.

“We’ll be right behind you.”

He nodded, grabbing his katana and jumped off the rock and started running.

“ **Wh-What… WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! STOP!** ” She was about to chase him, but let out a cry of surprise when she felt something cutting her arm. She turned to face Moge-kov.

“You’re not going anywhere. I’ll make sure of that.”

Moge-ko finally understood everything.

They wanted the _girl_.

“ **NOOO! I WON’T LET THEM! GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU BITCH!** ”

“Make me.”

“ **AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!** ”

Suddenly, using her fingers, she let out a powerful whistle.

* * *

_… Until dawn_

They stopped running when they heard Moge-ko from afar.

_You have until dawn to bring Yonaka back_

Suddenly, the floor started trembling under their feet. They stared at each other, wondering what the hell did Moge-ko did, but they didn’t have to wander about too much. Hurried and heavy footsteps were running towards them; those footsteps seemed very familiar to Nega-Mogeko… and Moffuru as well.

“Oh, no…”

“ _Tch_. _She really doesn’t want us to go to the castle_.”

Moge-ko’s pet, the giant bloody and yellow monster abruptly appeared through the trees, growling at them, and specifically at a certain fluffy Mogeko.

“… is this some kind of joke?”

“I’d wish it would…”

Blood Spirit seemed to be frozen for a few seconds, but suddenly, he hugged tightly at Moffuru, surprising the rest. Even the own monster stared at the scene without moving.

“EWWW!! What the heck?!” exclaimed the now wet Mogeko, soaked in blood.

“You’re welcome.”

“Well, now you look ugly, I don’t think you look that appealing now.” Joked Somewhat Strange Mogeko.

“HEY! You’re just jealous that I’m cuter than all of you!” huffed the guardian of the fifth floor.

He was about to say something, but Moge-ko’s pet roaring at them stopped him.

“ _Mmm… this will be nuisance_ …”

“Not for you, get out of here.”

Nega-Mogeko turned to look at them.

“Go. You don’t have much time, and we already got to see you. It was nice while it lasted.”

“ _But_ …”

“G-Go! Oh, and sorry for calling you dummy when you were sentenced to death…” said Prosciutto Fairy with watery eyes.

“Good luck.”

“Ask Yonaka if I’m the cutest, I’m sure she’ll say it’s me.”

When he didn’t move nor say something, Somewhat Strange Mogeko let out a sigh.

“Geez, have some faith in us. We won’t die. I have a frozen yogurt party to prepare once this is over.”

The green Mogeko stared at his friends. They used their own energy to bring him back, even for a few hours to save a human being he cared about.

“ _Sorry. And thanks_.”

Then, he started running towards the castle, disappearing through the wood’s darkness. The special Mogekos watched him go, then looked at the giant monster.

“… The bastard…”

“Uh?”

“… He had the katana… we’re empty handed.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“… Oh.”

A wrecking growling was followed by girly screams.

* * *

There were so many questions running through his head while he was running, trying to ignore his friends’ terrified screams, the battle of Mogekos against Hashaskys, Moge-ko… everything. He doubted, he did. He considered coming back to help them.

But he didn’t.

_She needs you_

Why would they think he was able to save her?

How did she end up possessed by some god?

Why didn’t she stop it?

Why did she come back?

What happened?

What _broke_ her?

Now, he was standing in the entrance; it was in ruins. The Mogeko statues were all broken, there was some blood. It was worse than mogeko’s reign. Even, the air felt tenser than before. It was weird, looking at a castle he once called home, and now it felt like, if he got inside, he would die. _Again_.

Although, that wasn’t something he cared.

What mattered was Yonaka.

 _Only Yonaka_.

So, he went in.

It was quiet, empty. There was unfinished food in the table (shocking, huh), and went through the stairs to the second and third floor. He was feeling a _déjà vu_ when he got through Blood Spirit’s room, he could almost feel her presence walking beside him. Teleporting without Blood Spirit’s minions was a pain, but he was able to endure it during the way. The fourth floor was almost the same; it was… _bloodier_. Without Hasu, it wasn’t a surprise that Moge-ko did what she wanted, and, it seemed, this deity enjoyed these tortured as well. Without the crazy female, getting into the elevator was so much easier, so he passed the sick Mofukos in bed, trying not to look at them suffering the illness. Then, he went to the sixth floor, all books were scattered all over the floor, there were some corpses as well, but he didn’t stop.

He was in the seventh floor; _his floor_.

He was taken away for months. He hadn’t been in his floor, nor in his room, for quite a long time. He didn’t even have the chance to contemplate it when he died. Now he had the chance. The first road was to the main door that would take anyone to any world.

And the other way…

Was it the smell that he could tell where she was? Or was the deity playing with him?

He walked slowly towards the door he hadn’t opened in forever. With his left hand, he adjusted his grip in the katana, while he used the other to enter to his room.

“Welcome back…”

He tensed, yet, he didn’t stop. Was his imagination what he heard?

Almost casually, he entered and closed the door behind him. It didn’t change at all. There were Somewhat Strange Mogeko’s book on the floor, when they used to share knowledge besides those porn magazines he kept giving him. There was blood as well, probably his, or from other Mogekos, since he killed some in his own room too. There was a medicine book that belonged to Moffuru. That was why he had the picture of the weird parasite that turned the yellow creatures into Mofukos. It sounded stupid, but it was one of the few things he could carry without problems and would still make him remember his friends. There were some broken weapons as well. Although his katana was hidden in the hospital, it wasn’t the only one he had.

What an empty room.

However, it seemed terrifying to his eyes… because there was someone laying on the floor, in the middle of it, like it was a normal place to sleep. She seemed exhausted, the Mogeko head had fallen of her head, and the rotten smell already told him what it was and _whose_ head was it. When she moved, he stepped closer.

She let out a moan of pain, and he was already by her side. When the girl opened her eyes, he gasped.

They were… _dark gray_.

“… Mr. _Defect Mogeko_ …?”

He softened his gaze.

“ _Hey,_ _missy_.”

She widened her eyes and abruptly sat up. Since he had good reflexes, he moved in time to avoid getting hit by her sudden movement. She stared at him in shock.

“… Am I dreaming?”

“ _I don’t think so_.”

“B-But… yo-you are…” her voice trembled and her eyes filled with tears. “Ho-How… I d-don’t understand…”

Last time he heard hear talking this way, was the last time they saw each other. He saw her crying watching him leave. Still, it was heartbreaking to see her in this state.

“ _It’s a long story, but, to make it short… the others brought me back_.” Before he could continue, she interrupted.

“The _others_ …?”

“ _The others special Mogekos_.”

“… Oh.” It made sense, there was a shiny halo above his head, besides, he had new scars in his body. She winced looking at that one scar in his arm.

“ _Missy_ …”

“That…” she almost didn’t hear him, she was too concentrated in the marks of his body, so he really _did_ come back. Then she looked at him. “… Are you… going to stay?”

He tensed. Yonaka sounded so hopeful, but so scared at the same time. He knew that coming back would bring some negative consequences. He wasn’t sure how to make Yonaka free from this deity. But it wouldn’t be with lies.

“… _When the sun comes out, I’ll be gone for good. It’s just a matter of time_.” He glanced at the broken window, where it could be seen the nocturne sky. Then, he looked back at her. Her eyes were lifeless.

“Is… that so…?”

“ _Yeah. I actually… didn’t know this was going to happen, and I’m glad I was able to see you again, missy_.” He confessed, trying to be as gentle as possible with the state she was in. “… _but it didn’t have to be this way_.”

She flinched at those words. So, _he knew_ what was wrong with her; maybe, the special Mogekos resurrected him to make her leave, so they could regain their castle back. Somehow, that thought angered her. They really didn’t care about her, they just wanted to get rid of her, using her affections towards the Mogeko that was facing her right now.

Why…?

Why were they so cruel?

“ _I thought you wanted to leave this place_.”

“… I did…”

It was shameful, now that she thought about it. She started this, wanted to get rid of this horrible feeling by killing with her bare hands those Mogekos who wanted to assault her in the worst way. Thanks to them, she had lost everything, but she completely forgot about the people who did everything to make her leave safely. Mogecukoo sacrificed himself to save her and the Defect Mogeko, and…

Yonaka stared at him deeply.

“… I’ll leave if they want me to.”

_What?_

That wasn’t the answer he was expecting.

“But… on one condition.”

A chilled ran down his spine, sensing that her next sentence wouldn’t be good. She shakily raised her hand to take his.

“I want to leave with _you_.”

She was serious. Yonaka had resolution in her dark eyes; eyes that showed that she’d been broken for a long time. They wanted her to leave? Yes, she would do it gladly. Oh, and they wanted to get rid of that deity that possessed her as well? That was just _okay_. It wasn’t like she liked how Lord Prosciutto was subtly torturing her mind. It would be good to get rid of them too. Everything would be fine again if she left…

… this world…

… with the Mogeko who was staring at her right back in shock.

“… _Missy, what’s gotten into you?!_ ” He broke the contact of their hands, retreating.

“I don’t have anything else in this world, and the Mogekos want me to leave! I’ll do it…! I won’t be after them anymore, but let me go with you! Let’s die together!”

“ _Don’t be ridiculous…! You_ can’t _be serious! How can you ask me something like that?!_ ”

This wasn’t making _any_ sense.

Yonaka couldn’t be asking him this. She shouldn’t.

She was a young girl, she had a whole life to get through this. This horrible feelings overwhelming her weren’t worth taking her life. _Nothing_ was worth taking her life.

“Don’t you want this?” she asked, almost pleading. “I… really enjoyed our time together… even if it was during horrible moments… I felt… I felt… _protected_! And _treasured_!”

Those were the same words she associated when the infatuation towards her brother started. But then, everything got ruined, his brother was broken… she couldn’t save him from his inner demons, and she… had to end his suffering. Even if it meant ending his life, and putting aside that, she was terrified of being killed by Shinya. She couldn’t stand that thought. Now, she blamed herself, why didn’t she let him? If she had, she could’ve… She shouldn’t be feeling these… sensations… like her heart was being eaten alive.

However, Defect Mogeko wasn’t like that. Even if it started as something to pay off the fact the she freed him, he _genuinely_ helped her, took care of her… he appreciated her. And so did she! His death was the most painful thing she felt in her whole life! Even if those dreams Lord Prosciutto was showing her were atrocious…

“Mr. Defect Mogeko… please… _Please_!... I don’t… want to be here!”

“ _Missy_ …”

“ _PLEASE_!” the tears were rolling down her cheeks. “ _I don’t want to live like this_! Dying is… the only way I can be free!”

What to do… What to do…? _What to do_?!

His mind was a mess. Why wasn’t he denying?! He needed to say something, but he was shaken to the core to this girl’s state of mind. She felt caged, trapped, _alone_. She hoped death would be the best door to freedom. Her resolution was made. She was sure.

But he didn’t want this, not for her.

 _Yes_ , he did care about this girl. It surprised him how much he cared. He hadn’t cared about anyone besides the special Mogekos. The king used to be his friend, but then, _all those things that happened_ … the betrayal was too much to bear, the wounds, too deep… the scars… _indelible_. He thought he would never trust someone to gain his affections…

And now… This girl was sitting on her knees, crying out for help… she was asking him to help her to die.

He let go of the katana, letting it make a loud sound of it hitting the floor. The high school girl flinched at that and looked at him.

“ _I can’t_.”

Yonaka froze.

“Wh-What?”

“ _I can’t let you come with me. You can’t die with me._ ” He shook his head, avoiding her gaze.

“Why?” her voice choke, sobbing. “I thought… I thought we… you…”

“ _Those are exactly my reasons why I can’t let you do this. For the fact that you’re precious to me, I can’t let you hurt yourself over this. I want you to move on from all this, I have faith you can do it, missy._ ”

She was a coward.

She knew she was. She loved his brother, and she lied to him, telling him she would gladly die for him, when in reality she was terrified of death. Now, she asked Defect Mogeko to die with her. Indirectly, she asked him to kill her. Yonaka wasn’t sure if he understood what she meant, but the meaning of his reaction was obvious: he wouldn’t.

He wouldn’t free her.

She let out a wail of pain and sobbed uncontrollably, causing the green Mogeko to flinch. Nega Mogeko clenched his fits, and approached her.

While, Yonaka covered her face with her hands, still crying.

 _He didn’t want her_!

Finally, she thought she found a solution to the hell she was living… and now, there was nothing! She would be left alone all over again!

Alone…

All alone…

**_No, you’re not~_ **

Her breath hitched, hearing that voice in her head.

**_You’re not alone, Yonaka-tan, my sweet girl~_ **

“ _Yonaka, listen_...”

She didn’t hear him. She was slipping; slipping away to unconsciousness.

 _What were they going to do to him…?_ , she asked herself in horror.

A giggle got out from her lips, one of her hands reached for the one object that was at the back of the red skirt.

If Nega would’ve reacted a second late, his head would have been stabbed right in the face.

He saw her hand reaching the one knife that she still had; that knife. And then, the weapon flew into his face. He retreated in a sudden jump backwards. _Did she just_ …?

“ _Hee, hee_ … I think that is enough for today, Yonaka- _tan_.” She mumbled, standing up, still holding the big knife. “It was fun, though.”

This definitely was not Yonaka. He had found strange that he encountered the girl in one piece, and no trails of this _so-called_ deity possessing her body. When she glanced up at him, he tensed.

Her dark gray eyes were gone.

Now, a very sadistic, yet calm red orb was staring at him. The deity was wearing a cynical smile in Yonaka’s lips.

“I’m _so_ honored to meet the one who kept my container safe~” sang the cold voice. “I can’t believe you were brought back to life just to meet me. Just how much you want to vow your faith towards me?”

* * *

“Oh, shit.”

The special Mogekos flinched at hearing Somewhat Strange Mogeko curse. From all of them, he was the only one who never, in his whole life, cursed. Even when they were running away from the monster, he looked calm. Now, he had a frown on his round face reading the rest of the book.

“What’s wrong?”

“I knew I should’ve finished reading it…” murmured the guardian of the first floor.

“Stop talking to yourself and tell us WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG!!” snapped Prosciutto Fairy.

He showed them one of the last pages of the book.

“… Oh…”

“I think you can say it again.”

“Shit?”

“Yeah.”

“… _Fuck_.”

* * *

General Hashasky was trying to run while he held Moge-kov’s through the forest. The female was wounded, and the Hashaskys pleaded them to escape while they fought against Moge-ko.

He didn’t know if they were so faithful towards them, or they were incredibly stupid for facing Moge-ko like that.

He was sniffling loudly while he kept dragging Moge-kov. His subjects weren’t going to survive. He just knew it, why didn’t he do something?! Why was he so weak and such a coward?!

“Mn…”

“M-Moge-kov? A-Are you awake?”

“What… where am I? Where’s Moge-ko?”

“… Th-They told me to… run… with you…”

Moge-kov moved and winced at the wound in her stomach. It was deep. She sat up and used her sword to tear a sleeve from her dress and used it to bandage the injury. She sighed, now she didn’t have to worry about losing blood. She looked at her General, who was sadly staring at the ground.

“General…?”

“… Why… are you still following me?”

She blinked, not sure what he meant.

“I really don’t understand what’s so special about me…”

“… General…”

“I’m… I’m _useless_!” cried hysterically. “I- I can’t fight like you, like any of you! I cry easily, I can’t move my legs when I’m scared… and when I get enough courage to fight, I ruin everything! I make things worse! Why?! WHY?! Why do you follow such a useless leader like me?! I’m… I’m so use…”

The white creature was interrupted by a harsh slap in his face. His mind went blank, the hit hurt, and the tears kept flowing, since the pain made it worse, but… all those thoughts vanished. He looked at Moge-kov. She was calmed, but there was something warm and soft in her beautiful eyes.

“Can you breathe now?”

“… Ye-Yes…”

She nodded and sat in front of him.

“My General… we chose you because we know who you are.” She stared seriously at him. “You didn’t make a covenant with the devil just to feel strong like that sick bastard mogeko did. We know you’re not physically strong, and you can’t grab a weapon right like I do. We all know that, and still, we’d choose you over everyone.” She raised her hand and touched the cheek she slapped moments ago. The general flinched a little when the female stroked the zone in a comforting way, as if she was apologizing for that. “But… you’re smart, and caring, _my_ General…” he blushed at looking to the first, maybe from a very long time, little smile playing in her lips. “You know what’s best for us, how to make your objectives happen, and why. Everything you do is because you care about your people: us. I know it’s hard for you losing your subjects, since they’re like family, but, please, you have to understand that… we need you… we’ll always need you, we need to protect you.”

“Moge-kov…”

“I wasn’t angry at you when you were kidnapped by Moge-ko… I was angry at _myself_.” She admitted. “My main goal is to keep you safe, and I failed. And still… you blamed yourself for something that it was my fault.”

“Y-You didn’t do anything wrong…”

“There you go again…”

“Hu-Huh! I’m sorry…”

“You’re still doing it…”

“Gah! Leave me alone!” he whined.

Her smile widened a little when the tears in her general’s face were gone. However, their precious moment was interrupted as they heard two loud rampages. One happened near them, they could hear Moge-ko’s deranged laugh and wails of horror and pain. The other noise…

Came from the castle.

Moge-kov frowned.

“I need to go, my General.” Announced the female and took her sword.

“U-Uh… Ye-Yes…”

“Please, stay safe. If you’re found by the special Mogekos, stay with them. They’ll protect you.”

“Alright.” He saw her starting to leave. “Moge-kov…!”

She stopped and turned to face him.

General Hashasky’s face was red, she could clearly see even with all his white fur.

“… P-Please… Come back safe… I’ll be waiting for you…”

Her gaze softened.

“A-And that’s an order!”

She nodded.

“Of course, my General.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk why I ship General Hashasky with Moge-kov, but Idk... they're so cute.


	3. Clash of the Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What did she really want?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk if you guys noticed, but I update this story every Friday. So, here it is. I considered doing it earlier today, but I forgot... Anyway, here you go!  
> P.S.: I tried to upload some fanart in here, but I really don't know how to do it so... eh, I leave you my fanart of this fanfic here: https://www.deviantart.com/callmerossana/art/Mogeko-Castle-Open-your-eyes-Fanfic-842683554  
> Enjoy!!

It was sad.

What Lord Prosciutto was doing was mean, _cruel_.

They were playing mercilessly with a young girl and a Mogeko’s feelings towards each other like some silly game. _She_ almost agreed that this deity was made to meet that psychopath Moge-ko.

While the high school girl didn’t have any purpose in life, or so she thought, this Mogeko was still trying not to give up on her.

She squinted her eyes, examining his soul.

He wasn’t born like the others Mogekos. Special Mogekos were created already by the king’s power, they were made to work in strict areas and for mogeko’s pleasure. And still… Nega-Mogeko was different.

He was the other side of the coin, the side no one was interested in to see as long as the _whole thing_ worked.

Since the beginning, he wasn’t the social type, so it took some time for the special Mogekos to let him in their circle. It wasn’t like they didn’t like him, he just wasn’t interested. But then, mogeko insisted him, so his job could be done perfectly. Nega just accepted, like a robot. He could get along just well with Somewhat Strange Mogeko, Blood Spirit and Moffuru, since they were the quiet type. They could be hours reading different fields while drinking tea, but with the others he had problems. Prosciutto Fairy tried to be friendly, and he got frustrated easily by Nega’s quietness; but then, the green Mogeko got used to that behavior of his, so he let him in. Mogecukoo was a different story; he travelled a lot during those times, so he couldn’t talk too much with Nega, but he was polite and nice to him every time he could, so, when he officially came back from his missions, he was welcomed by all of them, including the green Mogeko.

And Hasu…

They deity smiled.

Nega and Hasu, at first, _hated_ each other. Hasu didn’t like people who didn’t praise the great Lord Prosciutto, and Nega wasn’t interested at all. He just read about it to know more about his species, but that was it. They could argue hours about it. While Hasu would try to make him “believe”, Nega would throw simple “no, thank you”s. But then, the so-called “priest” proposed himself to convince the green Mogeko gradually, he would try to befriend him at first, then introduce him to the Lord.

Ironically, they became the best of friends.

The others special Mogekos would nag them at how their relationship started, but they would take it with humor. They were glad they were all a family. Nega-Mogeko thought this was okay.

But then… it wasn’t.

Even after everything, Nega-Mogeko was introvert, he didn’t like sharing his feelings with anyone. He didn’t know what to do with the job he was commended with. Not only was he commended with the creation of the weapons and the castle protection… but to dispose of the corpses as well. He would wear a mask to suppress the horrible smells, but he could still sense them.

Something about the things they were doing wasn’t okay.

Somehow, he couldn’t find _normal_ coming into mogeko’s room and finding him raping a little girl while the human was crying. He was told many times sex and prosciutto were the most common thing in Mogekos, those were the characteristics that made them _unique_. He was raised this way. But that term alone made him sick.

He couldn’t think properly every time mogeko would get tired of the corpses of the girls he captured, and then he would order him to toss them outside to burn them. He would drag the bodies in a big pile, would look at the expression they wore before they died, and then… he would ignite all of them, they would disappear in the ashes… as if they never existed.

Once, he tried to share his concerns with the others. He casually asked if some of them had done the “thing” with the girls they had captured. They all had stared at him weirdly, but then, Somewhat Strange Mogeko would confess that he had an _affair_ twice, but the females had agreed, he said he didn’t like the fact that all Mogekos abused girls without consent. He found it… impolite. Prosciutto Fairy and Moffuru shook their heads; while Prosciutto Fairy didn’t have time to anything most of the time because he had to raise the Mogekos that hatched from the eggs, Moffuru was busy running the hospital (especially if Moge-ko hurt Mogekos all the time…). To everyone’s shock, Blood Spirit timidly said he had something with a “human” he found during one of his walks outside the castle. He told them how him and Mogecukoo decided to take a stroll, and they found the young woman wandering in the trees, but they didn’t want her to go to the castle. Surprisingly, the woman decided to give him a “reward” to the red Mogeko. Since then. Blood Spirit confessed he didn’t want to be with anyone else, that he _fell in love_ with her.

 _Love_ …

Nega would hear that word only directed to prosciutto, not towards people.

He abandoned the conversation when they started to nag Mogecukoo, who said he wouldn’t talk even if they tortured him to death. He wasn’t sure what kind of relationship he had with the mysterious character, he already knew what he wanted to know.

His friends weren’t like that either.

 _There was hope_ , he thought.

So, he decided, he would talk to mogeko, and try to reason with him… and make him stop.

But it didn’t go well.

The king accused him of being a traitor, a _defect_.

So, his days in hell began.

The _female deity_ took pity in this poor soul.

_Is it something I have to bloody my hands for?_

He fought for his beliefs, he wanted to make a change, no matter what, even if it cost his life.

_Should I… refuse to give in, to such an extend?_

But after months of hate, wounds and torture… he gave up.

_So I…_

_I gave up…_

_I didn’t even bother to struggle_

He was cornered in the third floor, and he just… didn’t care anymore. He had stared at the torn piece of ear, his ear, then he tossed his special knife to the ground. The king was honestly surprised at his actions, giving up so abruptly, but he was pleased. So Nega was chained and locked up in the cells, waiting for his death warrant.

_I thought I could **just** die_

Then, the _girl_ appeared, like a little spark of light in the darkness; his darkness.

_But just then…_

_You showed up, missy_

If _she_ was honest, _she_ didn’t expect those feelings to bloom. She was a human girl, and he was a Mogeko, a kind of species she feared, and yet, he protected her until the end.

Nega-Mogeko didn’t mind being torn apart and burnt to death if that meant Yonaka could escape from the castle. It was a noble gesture, _pure_.

But it wasn’t enough.

Now, that girl was broken, Lord Prosciutto had taken over her body and was fighting against the Mogeko who protected her.

She noticed that Nega wasn’t really fighting. Using the girl’s body, Lord Prosciutto would harass him with that fatal knife, and he would just block the attack if they struck.

 _She_ closed her eyes.

If these special Mogekos wanted to get rid of Lord Prosciutto, and be able to go against Moge-ko…

 _Pancetta_ opened her eyes, glancing determined at the fight that was happening before her majestic eyes.

… **_sacrifices were required_**.

* * *

He was temporally alive, that was a fact, and he had until dawn to get some sense into the girl’s mind, and to defeat this deity as well.

… _Honestly, who the hell thought he would be able to do it?!_

It was absurd!

Nega knew what he was able to do, he knew he was one of the best fighters in the kingdom. But he wasn’t like the others Mogekos. If they were harassed, they would run away and never stop, and, maybe, they would hurt their adversary. But he wasn’t like that.

He couldn’t just run away and leave Yonaka like this, he _refused_.

And, of course, he wouldn’t lie a finger on her.

He dodged the swing of the sword that could’ve decapitated him and rolled on the floor. Once he got up, he searched for her figure, though it wasn’t hard.

Her other hand was grabbing mogeko’s piece of head, that one that seemed like a hat.

“… Did you know…?” They deity asked him, surprising him a little. First, this god was giggling while throwing the weapons that were around the room at him, and now, they were talking as if nothing happened. Yonaka’s hand caressed the yellow fur. “… Did you know that _she_ did this?”

The guardian of the VII floor took a few seconds to understand what they meant.

Yonaka… killed mogeko?

“It was _so_ tragic, like those books that weird Mogeko read once.” It was disturbing watching such a big grin in the girl’s face. “She was… so _heartbroken_ when you died. But pain brings anger as well. You know that better than anyone else.” Teased the deity. Nega-Mogeko frowned at that. “She thought we needed to pay the price… the price that did cost her heart and mind. She was done. She wanted to get rid of all Mogekos. The king was her priority, _he was the one who took you away from her_.”

Nega-Mogeko noticed how the red orb he could see took a soft expression for a few moments. What did that mean?

“And she just tore him apart, just like that.” Suddenly, the glee and malice came back in the red eyes. “I gotta say, mogeko was funny, but this girl…”

 _What_?

He always knew that there was something powerful about mogeko that really disturbed him. Even, Nega confirmed this when he was torn apart by him before he died. The way that he easily healed from the wounds he caused him, and that disturbing eye in his face…

Maybe he had something gifted from a god… this god.

Lord Prosciutto laughed maniacally.

“So you figured it out! You’re so smart! _Oooh~_ you got all the charms, huh? No wonder this girl is _sooo_ over heels for you, even being the _monster_ she fears! HA, HA, HA!!” They played with girl’s skirt. “It would’ve been funny to posses you, so I could have taken _both_ of you…”

Those words made him feel sick, and they made him feel incredibly furious.

“Can you imagine? Having your body to control, and that girl over our…”

“ **Shut up**!”

The grin in her face softened a little.

“No wonder mogeko was the way he was… since you’re just as sick as him!!”

“Hmph… talking back to a deity? Oh dear~… you have no manners… I guess…” their eyes glanced around the room, finding another katana near the girl’s feet. They kneeled down to pick it up and pointed the weapon towards the special Mogeko, who frowned. “… It’s time to teach you a lesson…”

The deity swung the sword to him, and he just blocked the attack.

“ _Aaawwwwwnn_ ~! You’re so cute! You won’t attack me, right? Since I’m using your precious girl’s body… well…” the red eyes sparkled menacingly as they applied more strength. “ ** _Easier for me_** …”

He grunted and pushed back the sword against his.

“You might be right on that one… but I don’t have to hurt Yonaka to defeat you.” Lord Prosciutto visibly frowned at that. “And of course, I won’t need to vow to your feet as you think.”

“ ** _I’M A DEITY_**!” roared the deity.

A powerful force exploded from her body, pushing Nega-Mogeko away. He hit the wall and fell on the floor.

“Crap…” mumbled under his breath.

“You WILL vow to me, you’ll SWEAR your faith towards me… Everyone loves Lord Prosciutto… and so do you…” They walked towards the green Mogeko.

Nega-Mogeko stood up, tightening his grip in the katana.

He wasn’t sure what they were thinking, bringing him back to fight against this disturbed god… he knew he wouldn’t win, even if he tried, he’d _never_ lay a hand on Yonaka.

“Did you know?” the deity cackled hysterically. “This girl’s really strong! She could fight you! But then, let’s see if she wants… I doubt it, so I will!”

The hit the girl brought with the katana against the one he had provoked a horrible sound of the material colliding. Yes, Yonaka had great force.

On the positive side, he was stronger than her, he had now calculated that perfectly.

However, his size was a problem, it had always been a problem for Mogekos when it came to fight. He learnt how to fight properly, but he did with Mogekos, not with others creatures bigger than him.

He retreated when Lord Prosciutto swung the sword as if the girl’s body was dancing. It was swung smoothly, fast and hard. He almost got cut, but kept dodging and blocking the attacks.

“Hee, hee… I’m pretty sure you’ll die before dawn, Nega-Mogeko.” Purred the deity. “You know that… if a deity, like me, kills you in this form… you won’t be able to ascend to Heaven?”

He frowned.

“Hmph. It’s better than to praise a god like you.”

That commentary, somehow, irked them.

“SILENCE! HOW DARE YOU!” Yonaka’s body moved fast, he just had time to blink when he was hit hard in the forehead.

He was hit with the flat side of the sword, but still, a deep cut formed, tainting the green fur.

“I’M THE BEST DEITY! I’M BETTER! BETTER THAN HER!!”

 _Her_ …?

“Why would those stupid Mogekos use her spell on you?!?! I could have easily brought you back from dead! But they didn’t choose me!! Why do they keep choosing _her_?!”

Then, he understood.

“… You’re talking about Pancetta.”

The red orbs in Yonaka’s eyes shone dangerously.

“The greatest goddess of all.”

Abruptly, her hand dropped the sword.

“… The greatest…” repeated the deity, covering the eyes with the girl’s hair. “Pancetta… the greatest… of them all… the greatest… the greatest… the greatest… hee, hee… the greatest… The best of the best… the greatest of all of us… Pancetta… of course…”

 _Okay_ , he was starting to worry a little. Since he pronounced that name, something changed in the girl’s posture. The deity was deadly calm. Too calm for his taste. And that meant only one thing…

“ **No one… absolutely no one** …”

He was dead.

“ **SAYS THAT NAME IN FRONT OF ME!!!!** ”

The force broke all windows, and the energy pushed Nega-Mogeko to the last crystal, the one at the balcony, which broke instantly. The problem was, there was nothing else outside besides the dangerous height, so he starting falling, watching as Yonaka’s body approached the broken balcony, and smiled gleefully at him.

“Hee… mogeko was right…” mumbled the deity. “Defect ones… aren’t Mogekos. So, I don’t have to show any mercy towards you…”

That was the last thing Nega heard before his vision got blurry.

 _Was Yonaka… really gone_?

… Why did everyone thought he could do this?

He just helped her escape. He wasn’t that important, he couldn’t even accomplish her last wish before losing her mind. He felt so useless, he was never able to accomplish anything at all! He couldn’t change the king’s opinion, he couldn’t send Yonaka back to her world, he couldn’t save her. _He couldn’t protect her_.

It was over.

* * *

General Hashasky flinched at hearing screams nearby, but they weren’t wails of horror nor pain, they were… voices arguing? He walked slowly towards the noise.

“I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!”

“Calm down…”

“I’M NOT CALMING DOWN! Did you hear what he said?! We’re dead! We’re all dead!”

He gasped at recognizing them. The special Mogekos! He tried to talk to them, but they were too busy fighting with each other.

“Look, Pancetta is not that bad…”

“Shut up! Just… Shut up! This is your fault! Why did we trust you on this?! You always make things worse!”

“Okay, you’re exaggerating a little…” tried to calm him Moffuru.

“Why do you keep defending him?! He just condemned miss Yonaka and Nega!!” Prosciutto Fairy pointed at a very serious Somewhat Strange Mogeko. “We ALL read the fucking book! If a deity takes over a body, it’s over! The soul that once was in that body will be CRUSHED! It won’t be able to rest in Heaven!”

Blood Spirit was deadly silent.

“Wh-What?!” mumbled the general, and everyone turned to look at him.

“General! You’re safe! That’s good.” Moffuru was the first to talk. The already pale Hashasky looked at their faces, and the fluffy special Mogeko sighed. “I take you heard…?”

“Yes… Wh-What do you mean? I thought this was safe…”

“Well, IT’S NOT! C’mon! Explain that stunt you made us do!” ordered the furious fairy to the guardian of the first floor, who frowned.

He stood straight, and looked directly at the general.

“We… _I_ missed the last chapter of the book of Pancetta.” Confessed. “I didn’t think it was important, since the chapter with the spell was the seventh… anyway, the thing is, I missed a few details… that make a lot of sense, but it’ll end pretty bad.”

General Hashasky gulped.

“… What will happen to miss Yonaka and Nega-Mogeko?”

The special Mogeko sighed.

“… There was an article that talked about this, it didn’t make a lot of sense then, but it does now. I read once a paper called Prosciutto VS Pancetta ~Clash of the Gods~, that told and old prophecy… that one fateful night, these Gods, in mortal bodies, will fight until the other perish.” He paused. “I didn’t pay that much of attention… until I read the last chapter of…” he showed the book he was tightly grabbing. “The thing is… there are side effects when you resurrect someone. Of course, it wouldn’t be concerning if it would’ve been any other situation but… it had to be this one: if the resurrected body is killed before dawn by some _divinity_ , the soul in the container will be destroyed… and Pancetta will take over.”

General Hashasky gasped.

“T-Take over, you mean…”

“Yes… the vessel will be empty, so Pancetta will be able to possess the body without hurting the other soul, since… it’ll vanish. And that way, the prophecy would come true: two deities in two mortal bodies.”

“… Miss Yonaka…?”

The rest adverted their gazes.

“There’s no hope for her anymore… It’s too late. Even if Lord Prosciutto is defeated… she won’t survive this.”

The general examined all Mogekos.

“Then, if Nega-Mogeko dies, he’ll lose his soul as well?”

“Maybe he’s already dead.” Mumbled the fairy.

“Why do you say that?!” Moffuru reprimanded the fairy.

“It’s a Mogeko against a GOD! Do you really think he could’ve won?! Why did we even bother to resurrect him?! We-We just… made everything worse…!” he burst into tears and cried loudly.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko didn’t say anything. He thought this would turn out good, but it didn’t. Technically, he had killed them all with his proposal.

“I think we discussed this.”

They all turned to look at Blood Spirit, the one who hadn’t said anything until now.

“We talked about this, about Nega-Mogeko losing, and I’m pretty sure he doubted he could’ve won against Lord Prosciutto. Don’t you remember? We were concerned for miss Yonaka, we wanted her to be free from Lord Prosciutto, and I’m pretty sure that’s Nega’s main goal too. And… don’t you think we should have more faith in our brother?”

The general tightened his hands.

“He-He’s right!” Decided to talk. “You should have more faith in Nega-Mogeko! I-I think he’ll be able to do something about it, even if it doesn’t bring a happy ending to all of us, I’m pretty sure he’ll do something about miss Yonaka! Right…?”

Somewhat Strange Mogeko was about to talk, but he was interrupted by a powerful gleam shining in the castle. The sparkle was beautiful, almost… _divine_.

“… Oh, no…”

* * *

This dream… was different.

Yonaka was walking a little far behind the Defect Mogeko, thinking about all the things that had happened so far. Going through those floors were horrible, but, by the third floor, things got better with the Mogeko who was walking ahead of her. Even if they encountered Moge-ko and the king…but she felt safe with Defect Mogeko.

 _Safer_ than being with Shinya…

Was it worth coming back home? Her parents wouldn’t be worried about her, and Shinya… even if he looked for her, he’d never find her. And that possibility, somehow, relieved her.

If she didn’t come back home, she wouldn’t confront Shinya, and she wouldn’t be scared from being killed by him.

If she just disappeared… along with this Mogeko…

She glanced up, noticing that he stopped walking, looking around confused.

 _Oh_ …

 _Was this a memory?,_ she asked herself.

She had those thoughts before entering the library, she had thought about saying some thing to the Mogeko who protected her, but, at the last second, she cowered and acted as clueless as him.

“What’s this place?”

But then, she realized this dream was, indeed, what it was: _a dream she didn’t accomplish_.

It almost felt real the strong beating in her heart…

“Never mind that, let us elope!”

He abruptly turned to face her, shocked.

“Wh… Missy, what’s this now?”

Her lips were trembling, but she couldn’t stop anymore. She wanted to get out, but not to go to her brother’s encounter.

“I don’t even care about my brother anymore!!”

Yonaka just wanted to be _free_.

“Mr. Defect Mogeko… As long as I have you, then…!!” He seemed to know where she was going with all this, so he quickly interrupted her.

“Y… You’re being ridiculous!”

Maybe she was, but this was the right decision, right?

“No… I’m being serious!” her cheeks felt warm, so did her heart. “Please… look into my eyes…!!”

His posture seemed so tense, defensive from her. She wondered if he felt the need to protect his own heart after everything he went through.

Yonaka felt as if she was watching a movie, seeing a scene she wanted to happen, but…

“Defect Mogeko, won’t you… elope with me?”

Even if this wasn’t real… would he say yes?

“…… Missy……”

 _Would he_?

* * *

Lord Prosciutto paled as they noticed the body of the Mogeko never hit the ground. He stopped falling.

The girl’s hand tightened the grip in the railing of the broken balcony. Without much thinking, the deity jumped off the place to approach the Defect Mogeko, who was safe and sound in the ground. With their divine powers, the body safely landed on the ground, and they stared at the green Mogeko, who was still grabbing the katana with great force.

“You really did it this time, Prosciutto.” Mumbled the guardian of the seventh floor.

So, they were right.

It was _her_.

Nothing changed in the Mogeko’s appereance, but there was a weird aura surrounding him, and the halo had disappeared.

“So, it’s you…” grunted the deity.

“You should have known for a very long time that, no matter what, I would stop you.” The Mogeko pointed the katana towards the girl. “You know you don’t belong in mortal grounds.”

“And so do you!!” snapped Lord Prosciutto. “You won’t let me do as I please there, so I can do it HERE! You won’t get in my way, _Pancetta_!”

The Mogeko seemed awfully calm.

“I’m sorry, but _you’_ re the one in my way, Prosciutto. So, get… OUT.”

Now that the Mogeko’s body wasn’t holding back his strength, the girl flinched instantly when the katana hit intensely against the one she was holding. Even, the deity knew it was using the goddess’ power as well. Lord Prosciutto retreated when they felt the sword breaking. Letting out a gasp, they kept retreading until the weapon broke. The deity threw the sword towards the goddess, and the Mogeko avoided the attack easily. But Lord Prosciutto smiled.

“Well, it wasn’t that good anyway, I can use this…~”

The Mogeko frowned, noticing the knife the human had in her hand. If the goddess wasn’t wrong, that knife was special for killing Mogekos in one stab.

 _So, this was how it was going to be_.

Well, she always knew it was going to be Prosciutto… or her.

The knife was big, and the girl was strong, but the combat wasn’t in her system. And it wasn’t like Prosciutto knew how to properly fight as well. She could do this.

It pained her that she had to get rid of this human girl, but she didn’t have a choice.

If she didn’t kill her, the Mogekos would perish.

She knew they deserved some kind of punishment since they hadn’t behaved the best way, that was why…

Her thoughts were interrupted when Prosciutto’s maniac laugh in the girl’s voice startled her, and eve more when the swung the weapon against the green Mogeko.

* * *

The Hashaskys were terrified.

The poor white creatures were about to be slaughtered by Moge-ko when Moge-kov suddenly appeared, as if she was never wounded by the crazy blond female, coming with a new regained force to fight against her. She was feral, swinging her sword back and forth against the Mogekos and Moge-ko herself. Countless Mogekos were killed by the female Hashasky, but Moge-ko couldn’t care less. She got genuinely excited at seeing her coming back and fighting with all that strength. They were all disturbed at noticing her panting like a cat in heat just watching her fight.

“Haa~… I should’ve kept you a long time ago!”

Moge-kov squinted her eyes, unaffected by her perturbing behavior.

“You seriously are sick.” Answered back.

“I can show you how sick I am if you let me…!” she jumped towards her.

“Moge-kov!!”

The alluded one heard her General’s voice, but didn’t stop fighting. However, what stopped them was the great scandal coming from the castle. Finally, both females turned to the weird lights coming from the place. From the corner of her eye, Moge-kov was able to see her General coming from the trees, accompanied by the special Mogekos.

“Now!!!!” ordered the great Hashasky.

Blood Spirit raised his hand and pointed at Moge-ko, who was covered in red mist.

“Wh-What?! **What do YOU think you’re doing?!** ” roared the female Mogeko.

Meanwhile, the other special Mogekos started fighting against the other yellow creatures, getting them away from the crazy blond. Finally, the red Mogeko was able to make Moge-ko disappear, to the rest’s surprise. But that didn’t last long. At least, from fifty feet from the ground, the female reappeared from the bloody clouds, and fell straight to it. Most of the witnesses flinched at hearing the sick sounds of bones cracking or breaking. She let out a gasp of the feeling of explosion from the back of her head.

The special Mogekos stared at Blood Spirit.

“… That was awesome…” muttered Prosciutto Fairy.

“Incredible, indeed.”

“… that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen you do, Blood Spirit.” Deadpanned Somewhat Strange Mogeko.

The red Mogeko sighed.

“Sorry, I’m not bisexual like you.”

“Oh, that’s so sad.”

Moge-ko’s eyes flared red at hearing them talking about her that way, she moved to stand up, but she grunted. She didn’t know what was broken, but she couldn’t move. Moge-kov noticed this, and walked slowly at her.

“Would you look at that…? The most feared, the _lovable_ Moge-ko, here… laying like a helpless worm.” Taunted the female Hashasky with fiery cerulean eyes.

“ **SHUT UP!! I’M GONNA KILL YOU!! I’m going to rip you apart…!!** ”

“Mm… Let’s see about that…” answered with a creepy little grin, planting her sword against her hand, and cut off two fingers.

Moge-ko suppressed the pain; she wouldn’t scream in front of her enemies, she’d rather die than humiliating herself like this. She growled at the female who was making fun of her.

“Let’s see who’ll end up torn apart…”

“Moge-kov, that’s enough.”

She closed her eyes. Of course, he would say that. He was unnecessarily kind. So she pulled back her sword.

“Yes, my General.”

General Hashasky ordered his subjects to hold the female Mogeko back. The blond roared at them, freezing them in fear, but then, she really couldn’t move, so they shakily tied her up.

“You okay, Blood Spirit?” asked Prosciutto Fairy.

“Yes… I’m a little tired, I’ve been teleporting too much.”

Moge-kov stared at them a few seconds, then she looked at her general.

“Was it your idea? Trapping Moge-ko?”

“Umm… Yes…” blushed the general. “Since they have their specialties, I thought they could come in handy.”

“I see.” She smiled.

“We still have that monster chasing our tails, but… they say it’s less scary than Moge-ko.” He pointed at the special Mogekos. “I think we’ll be fine.”

Moge-ko’s screaming abruptly stopped when she was muzzled by the white creatures. Then, they all stared at the Mogekos who were strung along with the crazy blond. They visibly paled, and started running away from the Hashaskys, crying out for help.

“They really are cowards without Moge-ko, huh.”

“Mm. They won’t go far. They’ll end up in the castle… or they’ll be devoured by the monster wandering in the forest.” Said Somewhat Strange Mogeko.

General Hashasky nodded, then he looked at the direction where the castle was. He grimaced.

“And…”

The special Mogekos noticed where he was looking, and their expressions darkened.

“Yes. We have _them_ left…”

When the last word was pronounced, they heard a loud thunder.

“Great, thunders and snow, isn’t it nice?” growled the fairy.

“We should keep going.” Proposed Moge-kov. She looked at the Hashaskys. “You can retreat now, take her someplace. Then, we’ll interrogate her.” Ordered as she glanced one last time at Moge-ko. “We’ll check the castle.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“I-I’ll go too!” offered the general.

“Okay, but stay close to them.” She pointed at the special Mogekos.

They started to walk, but Blood Spirit stopped, then fell kneeled to the ground.

“Are you okay?” asked Moffuru. “You’re… soaking blood…”

“I’m just… really tired…”

“Shouldn’t you stay, then?” offered Somewhat Strange Mogeko. “You’ve wasted too much energy already. You teleported us outside the castle, we did the spell, and you teleported Moge-ko.”

“I have to… I don’t want to stay…”

“Blood Spirit, you’re not okay.”

“I’m f… fine…”

Prosciutto Fairy sighed.

“I’ll carry you.” Said once he grabbed his friend by the arms and he lifted them both from the ground with his butterfly like wings. “I can’t go that fast with this cold, but…”

“Thank you…”

“Of course. I know you want to check on Nega and miss Yonaka.”

The red Mogeko didn’t reply, even flying, he kept leaving a trail of blood in the ground since he couldn’t stop sweating the red liquid.

General Hashasky stared at the special Mogekos in silence.

“What is it, my General?” asked Moge-kov, noticing something melancholic in his posture.

“I’m… kind of jealous.” Admitted quietly the general. “They act like family, never leaving one of them behind. I consider you all Hashaskys my family, but…”

“But it would feel nice to actually have one, right?” guessed the female. “It’s okay for you to desire things you don’t have.”

He nodded.

“I guess…” he shook his head. “Let’s get going.”

Honestly, _one_ Mogeko already had a bad feeling about what they were about to see once they would approach the castle.

 _Maybe, it already happened_.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko was really tense.

The cold air, the snow, the thunder… everything felt wrong. It was a signal.

But what did it mean?

Were they really gone?

Wasn’t there any hope for that human girl nor to his almost brother? None?... _At all_?

As they got closer, the colder it seemed their surroundings. The special Mogekos almost envied the Hashaskys for wearing warm clothes for the weather. The guardian of the first floor almost craved a cup of tea.

“Don’t listen seriously to him.”

He glanced at Moffuru. He didn’t seem that cold, since he had a lot of fur. His partner smiled at him.

“Prosciutto Fairy… I’m pretty sure he doesn’t blame you for all this. You did what you thought was right, even if it brought its consequences, we all decided to do this. We’re all to blame, for whatever happens.”

The guardian stared at each other for a few seconds.

“I think I’ve got that clear… but that is not the thing that bothers me the most.”

“You’re worried about miss Yonaka and Nega.”

“We all know that mogeko dragged humans, specially girls, to this world because their souls are about to corrupt.”

Yes. That was true.

The king thought that it wouldn’t bring any harm drawing in people who had weak hearts and minds; scholar girls, specially, had self-doubt because of love, bullies, family… whatever it was, people were dragged to their world. If they were high school girls, it was the best shot for Mogekos. Now, Somewhat Strange Mogeko wasn’t sure what exactly broke Yonaka’s mind and heart, he thought that Nega had something to do with it, that was the reason he chose him to bring him back to life. According to Blood Spirit and Moffuru, they seemed close.

“Do you think it’s too late?”

“I’m going to be honest with you… I genuinely hope miss Yonaka survives… but I doubt she will. Nega may be able to get through her, but that would be it. It would bring her some kind of ‘rest in peace’ thing. And about Nega-Mogeko…” he smiled sadly at his family. “I want him to be okay, but… I’m scared that we may have destroyed his soul because of this.”

Moffuru pondered on his words, then said:

“Hoo, hoo… knowing him, he’ll act all like a hero, saying things like he wouldn’t care if that meant he would save her.”

“No kidding.”

* * *

Was it worth dreaming this?

She knew this was a dream, as all the dreams she’d had since Lord Prosciutto took over her body. But she wasn’t complaining with this one.

She felt happy… at ease… free.

It felt almost like… living was so good!

She was staring at the sunset. It never looked so beautiful until now. She missed saying it out loud and half of his answer.

“… Was that long-past sky… like this, too?”

Yes, there was a bit of nostalgia in his voice, but it didn’t have any bitterness. He seemed happy by her side as well. The conversation flowed smoothly, and she mentioned how hard it was for her the castle. But, she wasn’t sure if she meant it to her dream-self, or…

… her own, real self.

What was she doing before falling to sleep?

Yonaka couldn’t remember.

“… Missy.”

She looked at Defect Mogeko. His posture seemed off, almost out of character. He looked so shy, but happy too.

“Please… Stay with me always…”

He wanted her.

_He didn’t want her!_

She gasped.

 _That’s right_ , she thought.

She regained consciousness for a short period of time. She woke up, and encountered Defect Mogeko. He didn’t have the chance to tell her much, since she didn’t let him and was out her mind. He tried to tell her something… she couldn’t hear it. He tried, but then… Lord Prosciutto…

Oh…

Oh, no…

The dream vanished, everything turned dark. She was surrounded by darkness.

“Hello…?!?!”

She turned around, or so she thought. She wasn’t sure she could even move.

“Someone?”

What was happening _outside_?

What if… what if something happened to Mr. Defect Mogeko because of her…? What if Lord Prosciutto hurt him?!

She wasn’t sure how or why, but she was pretty sure that something wrong was happening, that Nega-Mogego wouldn’t be okay if the deity laid a hand, _her hand_ , on him.

What if they used _her hands_ to annihilate him?

“ **NO!!!!** ” her voice cracked, scared and broken.

It would be like Shinya all over again!!

She didn’t want that!! She wanted to make things right…! She wanted to improve… to be better…!! That way… she could…

She could be free.

Suddenly, she felt something painful in her chest. She started breathing and she coughed. She tried to move, but everything hurt.

Yonaka opened her dark gray eyes and stared at her state. One of her long socks was torn and tainted with blood, _her blood_? It was a little cold, and she realized she didn’t have her cardigan, nor her sweater. She was just wearing the school blouse. That and her skirt were bloody; not enough to scare her, but that explained why she felt so much pain. And her braids were a total mess, one seemed already to messed to call it what it used to be. When she tried to get up, she finally noticed the big knife she was holding in her right hand. She dropped it out of surprise with a yelp.

“Wh-What… Where am…?”

Her thoughts and words were quickly interrupted when the edge of a sword was pressed against her neck without mercy. She held her breath as she glanced up to look at the creature who was threatening her life.

“… Mr. Defect Mogeko…?”


	4. A deal to change fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sun has risen.  
> Now, she had to gather the broken pieces, her broken pieces, to put herself back together.  
> But how?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys!! Sorry, I'm a little late... I like to update this fanfic all Fridays early, but... eh, today I couldn't. But it's better later than never!!  
> Hope you guys like it!! R&R!!  
> P.S.: I'm considering writing another fanfic... but it would be a multi-crossover fanfic of rpg games... The idea would be use one per rpg maker, but I'm still not sure.. it would be an AU... it would include Mogeko Castle (of course), The sandman (by Uri form the Strange Men Anthology), Ib (by kouri), Mismo (by Sen, you may know them for Mad Father)... and maaaaybe The Witch's house. If you're interested, let me now in the comments, so I can tell you more about it in the next chapter or something~

“Right… but wrong.”

Yonaka blinked once… twice.

“Wh-Wha…?”

“I’m finally able to meet you, Yonaka.” The Mogeko dropped a little the weapon. “You may be a little confused right now, so I’ll explain shortly. My name is Pancetta, the greatest goddess, and I’m possessing this body right now.”

Yonaka frowned. Pancetta? Where did she hear that name…? And no, she didn’t mean the menu in the restaurants. She was almost sure that… she read something about a deity called that way… but…

 _Scratch that_ , what did she just say?

“Wh-Why are you doing that…?”

“It’s my duty to confront Prosciutto’s bad actions, their sins are too heavy, and they need to pay for that. They weren’t allowed to come to this world and, of course… they weren’t allowed to possess living creatures to do what they wanted. That’s forbidden. I need to take them down and take Prosciutto with me.”

Yonaka tried to understand, really, she did, but what was in her mind right now was that this goddess was in the Mogeko’s body; the one Mogeko that protected and saved her. Even if he was already dead… it seemed so unfair for him to come back to lose his body one more time.

“… Is… Is Mr. Defect Mogeko gonna be like me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I… I was trapped… like… I was dreaming… awful things… but it felt so real…”

She shuddered at remembering those dreams. They were so real… she could assure that she was okay physically, but the rape, the torture and the death… felt so real. She wondered if the green Mogeko was trapped in a state of mind like that.

Pancetta felt touched by the girl’s worry for the special Mogeko. She felt bad that she had to kill this child and separate her, once again, from Nega-Mogeko. But she had to do it. She couldn’t risk Prosciutto taking over Yonaka all over again.

“You don’t need to worry about Nega-Mogeko. His soul is not broken.”

… Yet.

His soul was awfully quiet, as if it wasn’t even in his body. Pancetta wondered if his soul already disappeared from his body. Was it destroyed before she noticed? She wasn’t sure, but she wouldn’t share this information with the girl. As long as she let her kill her, everything should turn out fine.

“I’m really sorry things turned out this way, but I must eliminate you right now.”

Yonaka blinked, then flinched.

“Wh-What?! Why?! I didn’t…!”

“Your soul is tainted, not only by Prosciutto… you corrupted yourself as well, you were the perfect candidate for them to possess you, and you still are, so I can’t let you live.” The Mogeko raised the weapon once again. “Don’t worry. I’ll make it quick so you won’t suffer.”

 _Corrupted?,_ she asked herself. When did she…?

Oh.

“Why…? I only…” she but her trembling lip. “I just didn’t want to die… and Shinya wasn’t getting any better, if I had let him live… he would’ve killed countless people…” With angry tears, she stared right back at the goddess. “How is that corruption?! I-I just… wanted to survive!”

“Oh? So you killed mogeko to survive as well?” taunted Pancetta.

She froze.

“Th-That’s…”

“You killed him… because you _wanted_ to, since he was the one who killed someone you cared about. You did that for revenge.” Yonaka gulped, avoiding the Mogeko’s gaze. “Though I understand your feelings, that doesn’t justify the fact that you wanted to kill all Mogekos. Are going to deny that?”

How ironic.

Yonaka imagined Mr. Defect Mogeko’s reaction to mogeko’s death: he would be surprised, yes, but she didn’t think he would be disappointed… in fact, she thought he would be pleased. However, here she was, finally in control of her own body, but being judged by some goddess that possessed her precious protector’s body.

Although…. Pancetta was right.

There was a point that she just wanted to appease the horrible pain that Shinya and Nega’s deaths brought her. She blamed all that suffering, angst and hate to those creatures who wanted to break her physically and mentally. So, _how about they turned the tables_? They wouldn’t like it, would they?

Of course they wouldn’t, but they never cared about the victim’s feelings either.

She wanted them to know all the horror and hurt she went through.

“No… I won’t.”

Maybe… it was too late for her. She didn’t have a chance anymore; she wouldn’t have the chance to live and amend her mistakes. She didn’t have the right, even if she thought she did the right thing.

It was sad.

Just when she finally realized that she wanted to be better, to keep on living… this happened.

Would her death hurt Mr. Defect Mogeko? It was a possibility, and even more if it was going to be by his own hand… even if he didn’t know. But…

Didn’t he wanted her to live?

_For the fact that you’re precious to me, I can’t let you hurt yourself over this._

_I want you to move on from all this, I have faith you can do it, missy._

Yes!

“There aren’t… any other options?” asked the girl.

“I’m afraid not.”

“I see… then, I’m sorry Mr. Defect Mogeko!”

Trying to be a little gentle, she used her right to kick the Mogeko’s feet to make him fall to the ground. Yonaka quickly got up and started running away.

 _I’m… I’m not going to die!_ , she decided determinedly.

* * *

When they arrived at the castle, they noticed a few wrecked places from the structure. For a seconds, Somewhat Strange Mogeko feared the worse, but then, they heard a scream not from afar.

“Was that…?” asked Prosciutto Fairy.

General Hashasky gasped at seeing a female figure running towards them. She was a mess, but she was alive! And, for the record, didn’t seem like a…

“It’s miss Yonaka!” exclaimed the fairy.

The said girl glanced up at hearing her name, and her eyes met the group of Mogekos and two creatures she didn’t know what they were. She had seen the little white one… General… something, she couldn’t quite remember. Then, she saw a female wearing matching clothes to the white Mogeko. Her eyes were cerulean and shiny. She stopped running and stared at them.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko noticed her eyes; they weren’t red anymore, but she was injured. Not badly, but it was obvious she had quite a fight.

Somehow, Yonaka tensed. Now that she was back to herlself, what were they going to do to her? Were they going to avenge their king? Was she going to get imprisoned and brutally raped, then murdered? Did they hate them for what she did…? She held her breath when the special Mogeko of the first floor approached.

“… Are you okay?”

She blinked.

“… Eh?”

“Are you okay, miss? You had it rough all this time… I didn’t expect to meet you again, though I’m glad.” A small smile appeared, and Yonaka’s heart warmed.

“Hoo, hoo!! Lady Yonaka!! It’s so good to see you’re back!! Not that you’re okay being here, but… you know what I mean!!” greeted Moffuru.

“Welcome back.” Answered shortly Blood Spirit.

“Glad to see you’re okay!”

She numbly nodded, still not sure what to say. She wrinkled her skirt with her fingers.

“U-Um…”

“Miss Yonaka.” Interrupted gently the guardian of the first floor. “I think I know what you want to say, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Besides, we promise we’ll listen to you once this is over.”

“Oh… Okay.” Nodded.

They were more important things to worry about.

She heard something behind her back.

Like… _that situation_.

“Yonaka, stop running.”

The special Mogekos gasped. There stood their friend holding his katana, probably to kill the human girl.

“Nega! What the f…?!?!”

“It’s not him.” Somewhat Strange Mogeko interrupted de fairy.

“What?!”

“We know that Nega-Mogeko would never lay a finger on miss Yonaka’s hair. It must be…”

“Don’t run.”

Yonaka gulped, staring at the green Mogeko.

“Oh… no…”

“No! Th-This has to be a lie…! It can’t be true!!”

She turned to look at the special Mogekos, frowning. What were they talking about? Was there something she didn’t know? She briefly looked at the others creatures, looking for an explanation. When her dark gray eyes stopped in the General Hashasky, he nervously played with his hands. Moge-kov stared at his General.

“Wh-What are you saying?” decided to interrupt the Mogekos’ nervous glances.

Blood Spirit decided to give Somewhat Strange Mogeko a break, so he talked.

“It was risky for Nega to come back to fight with Lord Prosciutto.” Explained briefly. “If he was killed by them before dawn, Pancetta would possess his body, since it would be soulless.”

 _Killed_? _Soulless_?

Yonaka visibly paled. Was he implying what she thought he was implying? She was about to interrogate him once again, but he proceeded.

“According to what we read, his soul…”

Then, it was true. Her bad feeling became true.

Her legs trembled and ended up falling in her knees to the cold ground.

“Miss…?”

So, Lord Prosciutto _did_ kill him. How did that happen? Did they use their own power? Or maybe… the deity did it with _her_ hands?

“Miss Yonaka.”

But…

“Yonaka.”

She turned to face the goddess who was possessing her protector’s body. Feeling fresh tears in her eyes, she talked.

“You said his soul wasn’t broken!!”

“It’s not.”

“Then why are you in his body?!” asked desperately. “Y-You shouldn’t…!!”

“It’s my destiny to destroy Lord Prosciutto and drag them with me to punish them. And, of course, I must kill their vessel.”

“Where is he now?! If he’s not in here, then…!!”

“I’m sorry, Yonaka. But that is not of your concern. And it won’t matter since your life will end soon.”

Somehow, those words angered her even more. She clenched her fists.

“It **IS** my concern!!” snapped the girl, standing up. If the goddess was surprised at her outburst, she didn’t show it in the Mogeko’s face. “Mr. Defect Mogeko…!! Mr. Defect Mogeko came back for _me_!! To save _me_!! How can it not be my business!!”

Moge-kov was contemplating the scene in silence. It was weird. It wasn’t the first time she saw a human, but it was the first time she was so close to one enough to know them a little. This Yonaka girl was… so sensitive and caring. It almost reminded her to her General. Even if there was something _bizarre_ in the way she cared for this Mogeko and vice versa, she found it touching as well. It didn’t even seem weird to her. It felt so… right, as if two pieces of a puzzle fit together. She could see, almost feel Yonaka’s feelings just looking at her in the eyes. How she was able to do that? She wasn’t good with emotions and never was.

If this turned out fine, maybe, she would ask her about how emotions exactly worked.

Meanwhile, Pancetta patiently listened to the girl’s words, and she understood her feelings, she really did. But things couldn’t be any other way. Yonaka needed to accept her fate. The pain she was feeling right now was unnecessary. Without replying to the girl, she pointed the sword towards her, but tensed at noticing the special Mogekos getting in front of her, trying to protect her.

She frowned.

“What is this?”

“You’ll have to excuse us, Pancetta, but we can’t let you kill the girl. Our main goal was to set her free from Lord Prosciutto. We thought we lost her for a second.” Shrugged the first guardian.

“You all just are just being naïve.” Reprimanded gently. “Do you really think Prosciutto just left their vessel, just like that? They let Yonaka come out to convince me to not to kill her, that I’d feel sympathy for her and spare her life. That’s not going to work.”

“How do you know?! Y-You don’t know if that’s true!!” asked very distressed the fairy.

“I know Prosciutto, better than all of you. Since they can’t rule the way they wanted above, they decided to do it here, in mortal grounds.” She frowned. “You know I have little time. If the sun comes out, I’ll be gone, and Lord Prociutto will be back… and you’ll never set Yonaka free. And you know you can’t bring Nega-Mogeko back, ever. The spell can only bring one creature back _once_.”

Yonaka pressed her lips. That was it? She couldn’t be free unless she was killed? That seemed so… unfair! She didn’t ask for this, now that she wanted to get on her feet and keep going, horrible things kept happening around her.

“This is getting pointless. I don’t have much time. Move.”

“Once again, I apologize. That won’t happen.”

“Sorry, but we would be betraying Nega if we let you kill miss Yonaka.” Said Moffuru.

She frowned.

Then, it would take more than one sacrifice to do this.

“Well, then.”

They gasped as the goddess jumped to swing the katana towards them. Yonaka flinched when she felt General Hashasky’s little hand tugging her hand, then the attack was blocked by the female Hashasky with her own sword. She turned and the Hashasky kept grabbing her hand, as if he was telling her to run with him.

“Go.”

She turned and watched the special Mogekos smiling at her.

She bit her lip, and then ran with the General to the woods.

Pancetta was starting to _get tired_ of all this. Why were they trying to protect her so much?

“What is this now? You’re not even a Mogeko.”

“I’m not. But we owe a lot to these ones, since they helped us to go against Moge-ko’s reign. And about the girl…” she briefly glanced at her. “She saved General Hashasky, and I need to thank her somehow.”

Pancetta abruptly retreated her attack to finally hit Moge-kov’s head with the side of the sword.

“Moge-kov!!”

The hit stunned her and she fell on the ground. She didn’t expect the Mogeko to be that fast. Maybe she underestimated it, she thought that it would be easier since the creature was smaller than her. She tried to get up, but a pain in her stomach reminded her of her old injury, which seemed to open. Before she could do anything else, her energy was drained by the goddess, to finally make her faint.

Pancetta jumped as far as she could from Moge-kov to approach the special Mogekos. She doubted they would cause trouble for her. They were exhausted; her spell took a lot of vital energy. Even, she noticed Blood Spirit panting a little.

“I really don’t want to murder any of you, just move out of the way and let me finish this.”

“Do you really have to kill her, though? You’re the greatest of them all, can’t you extract Lord Prosciutto from miss Yonaka’s body?”

Pancetta lowered her gaze and lowered the sword.

“Even if I do that, it’ll never be over.”

Somewhat Strange Mogeko frowned.

“Even if I take Prosciutto out of Yonaka’s body… Prosciutto will be back. She’s the only vessel which they can control in the mortal ground. If I let her live, they’ll be back over and over again, and I already chose this body to exist. Once Nega-Mogeko dies, I’ll never be able to come back, and things will stay the same. Everything you did would be in vain.”

The special Mogekos stared at each other.

“Do you get it now? I need to do this, for you. I’m doing this for all of you, for you to live peacefully. Now, get out of my way. Yonaka can’t escape.”

Suddenly, Prosciutto Fairy stood in ahead of his brothers, facing the green Mogeko.

“HEY NEGA!!” shouted fiercely, startling them all. “WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!?! HOW CAN YOU LET HIS HAPPEN, YOU BIG IDIOT!!”

The Mogekos adverted their eyes. Why was he doing that? They knew Nega wasn’t there anymore… he wouldn’t come back.

“Hey!! Do you hear me?!?! If miss Yonaka dies… then everything will be in vain!! HEY!! DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!?!”

“It’s useless.”

“SHADDUP!!!! I’M TALKING TO NEGA, NOT YOU!!” The fairy starting shaking and started crying uncontrollably. “Why you… why this is happening… We were… we just wanted to fix this… we just wanted to make things better… since Nega couldn’t… we wanted to do it… so his, Mogecukoo and Hasu’s deaths wouldn’t be in vain… w-we… you all gods… are so _cruel_ …”

His brothers looked at the fairy in absolute despair. They tried to be strong, especially for him, since he suffered the most, but… they just couldn’t stand this anymore. Blood Spirit started to sob as well, covering his eyes so no one would see his bloody tears. Moffuru subtly cried, a little overwhelmed with all these emotions around the air. Somewhat Strange Mogeko tried to contain his own tears, but he finally let them roll down his furry cheeks.

Everything came back in a strong blow.

First, they found Hasu’s dead body crucified, then, they found Mogecukoo’s bloody corpse by the sixth floor, and, along with it, Nega-Mogeko’s blood all over until the stairs that would lead to the seventh floor. The couldn’t even ask themselves if he was alive yet, the smell of burnt flesh answered that question before it ever occurred to them.

Pancetta didn’t want to admit it, but these Mogekos were really starting to get through her. It pained her how much pain they had been feeling for a long time, losing their comrades, almost family, and then, trying to follow their friend’s legacy, but _to no avail_.

She clenched the katana in the Mogeko’s right hand.

“One. Last. Time. Get out, or you’ll have to die.”

Prosciutto Fairy didn’t even move. He kept loudly crying, his words were incoherent, but it seemed like he was refusing to obey, shaking his head. Nor Blood Spirit or Moffuru said anything either. Finally, Somewhat Strange Mogeko shakily sighed.

“Go ahead, then.”

The goddess visibly tensed, and started shaking.

Why were they doing things so much harder for her? She just wanted them to be okay, to save them from Prosciutto, and put at rest at Yonaka. Why their feelings were so…?

The right hand tightened the grip of the sword, but it didn’t stop shaking.

“… I really am sorry.”

Still hesitating, the Mogeko raised the weapon, trying to end their lives as quickly as possible. Then, she swung it.

Prosciutto Fairy flinched at feeling fresh and warm blood splashing at him.

“Ahh…!!”

… However, he never felt the pain of the sword stabbing him nor cutting him. And the noise didn’t come from him either. He opened his eyes and gasped. Soon the others followed his actions.

The green Mogeko, using his left hand, was grabbing the cutting edge of the katana, almost tearing apart the flesh.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko couldn’t believe his eyes.

“ _G-Get_ … _o-out_ …”

The tone in the Mogeko’s voice changed.

“ _Get out_ …” repeated.

They didn’t understand. What was he trying to say…?

“ _GET OUT!!!!”_

Something flashed in the Mogeko’s right arm, then, it vanished.

The guardian of the seventh floor abruptly retreated the sword and threw it to the ground. Letting out a gasp for air, he let himself fall seated on the ground. The special Mogekos were around him in seconds, but he didn’t pay any mind of it. He seemed tired.

“…”

“… Umm… are you…?”

“ _If you ask if I’m fine, I’m going to kick your ass_.”

Prosciutto Fairy blinked. They would had expected a tantrum from him because of that comment, but he just started cackling loudly, then hugged the guardian.

“Y-You’re… you’re back!!”

The other special Mogekos were still in shock. Somewhat Strange Mogeko cleared his throat.

“How… how did you…?”

Nega was about to answer, but a soft light emitting behind them stopped him. They turned and watched in great surprise the true form of the greatest goddess Pancetta. She was like a female Mogeko, though her tone of blond was a little different, had tan skin and weird tattoos on her arms. She was a wearing a white dress, white bracelets matching and brown weird sandals. Her shiny black eyes were filled with remorse. The Defect Mogeko frowned at her.

Pancetta was a little speechless at the moment when suddenly Nega-Mogeko’s consciousness woke up from its slumber. He even hurt his own body to stop the attack she was about to strike to his friends. His mind was strong enough to kick her out of his body. She could easily come back and destroy his own soul, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. While she was thrown away, she heard him talking to her, almost scolding her.

_You’re just like that Prosciutto god!_

_You do what you want, never considering what’s best for them, but for you!! Look at you, possessing someone’s body like that deity, violating their bodies, minds, souls and hearts!! You’re not different from any of them…!!_

Her majestic eyes filled with tears.

“… Please, forgive me…” started sobbing softly, her tears were almost shining. They kept staring at her without saying anything. “I really thought… I was doing the right thing… I wanted you all to be okay… and make things right.”

The special Mogekos weren’t sure what exactly made her change her mind, but Nega-Mogeko did. He really tried to find some empathy for her, but he just couldn’t. He hated the feeling of his soul being _abused_ that way, it was almost torn apart when he was drifted away from his body. The worst part was the he didn’t even get out from his body, it almost slipped, but he kept grasping his soul to his body, however, it hurt so much that his own sanity almost broke. If this was Yonaka went through, he found hard forgiving these sick deities…-

His thoughts came to an abrupt stop.

“… _Where’s Yonaka?_ ”

The Mogekos stared at the woods, where the girl had wandered to. Nega-Mogeko wanted to get up to look for her, but his body felt too tired all of the sudden, so he fell again.

“Nega!!”

“Are you hurt?”

Besides the burning cut in his left hand, he wasn’t. Why did he felt to exhausted all of the sudden when he got his body back?

“Your soul is about to burst.”

They turned to see the goddess staring at him sorrowfully.

“Wh-What do you mean?” asked Prosciutto Fairy.

“His soul has weakened, him trying to get his body back… form me…” the last words were mumbled. “… that took too much energy from his soul and body… besides…” she glanced at the sky. The all imitated her and noticed it wasn’t that dark anymore.

The sun would come out soon.

“Nega-Mogeko doesn’t have much time.”

Somewhat Strange Mogeko cursed their luck. Right now, Yonaka was running away from them, finally trying to survive, without knowing what was happening. Even if they tried to help Nega to find her, they wouldn’t be able to do it. Blood Spirit was still recovering from using his powers, and neither of them were that strong to help him.

Pancetta squinted her eyes and turned before hearing the voice.

“I can take him.”

They all looked at Moge-kov. They didn’t know how long she had been awake, but it seemed enough since she understood the situation. She glared a little at the goddess, who tensed at that gesture.

“… Are you sure? You look awfully pale.” Asked Moffuru.

“I _am_ pale.”

Moffuru knew _she knew_ he didn’t mean that way, but he guessed she just wanted to return the favor to them since they started helping the Hashaskys.

“Will you be okay?”

“I got a very good sense of smell, and I know where my General could’ve taken her.”

“I see.”

She grabbed her sword, then she carefully lifted the green Mogeko. Then, she started to run.

The Mogekos watched her running with their friend. They couldn’t even day goodbye to him, but they still thought he deserved his last moments to be with Yonaka. Somewhat Strange Mogeko noticed Pancetta staring at the ground. She looked serious, thinking about something important.

 _Was she_ …?

* * *

“It was _you_ , right?”

Nega-Mogeko heard her while she was running. He glanced up at her.

“The Mogeko who sent the letter to let us know about mogeko’s weaknesses, his moments of distraction, all that information… you sent that.” He still didn’t say anything, he was saving his last energies, and she understood, so she kept talking. “The guardian of the first floor told me the truth. I wanted to thank you, but then you died. This is my way thanking you. I hope we can reach the human, so you can leave peacefully.”

He nodded, but he still wasn’t sure if things would turn out good. Lord Prosciutto could still be in Yonaka’s body, and he didn’t want to leave her being a prisoner of her own body.

“It’s a shame, though. I heard you were good at combat… I would’ve liked to fight with you some time… in a _friendly_ combat.”

He subtly chuckled, and Moge-kov took that as that the feeling was mutual. A ghost smile appeared on her lips for a few seconds, then she frowned and quickened the pace.

They were close.

* * *

General Hashasky wanted, at first, to bring Yonaka to his people, the Hashaskys weren’t like Mogekos, they would respect her and treat her well, however, he finally declined the idea in his mind. They had captivated Moge-ko too, and he doubted the girl wanted to face her right now. So they just kept running, until they had to stop to breathe for a second. He suggested her to hide in the weird train station, or whatever it was called, but he sensed a new scent nearby.

“… Mr. General?” Yonaka called him carefully. “What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer her right away. He smelled Moge-kov, and worried for a second when he noticed she was bleeding, but it seemed like a little scratch, since it wasn’t dripping at all. Then, he could smell _him_ too, and his blood. The general was sure that his protector would never bring any danger towards them; if she was bringing Nega-Mogeko towards their direction, she had to have a reason.

 _Was it because it’ll be dawn soon?,_ he asked himself, but then came back to reality when he heard the human girl gasping in surprise.

Yonaka was surprised when suddenly the female Hashasky appeared through the woods, and noticed she was carrying _someone_. She looked at Moge-kov’s stoic eyes.

“You don’t have much time, that’s why I came to find you.”

It took her a few moments to realize the meaning behind those words. She looked up and, indeed, the sky was much clearer, but the sun hadn’t arisen yet. Then, her eyes drifted to the Mogeko, he looked exhausted, his left hand had an ugly wound… he seemed like a dead weight in Moge-kov’s hold.

“… May I…?” she approached, almost timidly.

Without saying anything, the female handed him the Mogeko, then she walked to her General, who stared at her in a melancholic way. She subtly sighed.

Yonaka let herself sit on the ground while she placed her protector in her lap, hugging him close to her chest.

“… _Hey, missy_.”

Her eyes filled with tears and hugged him tighter.

“… Hi…” her reply came out softly. “Are you okay…? You look a little…”

“ _Tired as hell_.” Yonaka noticed he was trying to be subtle about it, but she knew it was more that that. Maybe he hurt himself while he regained consciousness? She wasn’t sure but she wouldn’t waste time asking him that.

“Yes… umm… I… I really am… sorry, Mr. Defect Mogeko. For everything.” He didn’t dare to interrupt her, he didn’t need to forgive her for anything, but, if she needed to tell him this to heal herself, he would let her. “I just… I just couldn’t… find a reason to keep going and… I still wonder if this is worth it, but… I want to, for your sake… I want to move on, but… I don’t know if I can do it without you.” She let out a sob.

The green Mogeko took a hold of her with her good arm. He knew this moment wouldn’t fix all the things she had gone through, but it was a start, and she needed to cross this road in the best way possible.

“ _I don’t know how you humans really work… but, missy, I don’t want you to become one of mogeko’s victims. Even if he didn’t hurt you physically, he still did, and… I want you to overcome this… I’m not asking you to forget what you went through… I want you to learn from this, so you can be, one day, truly happy_.” He felt the warm tears falling on the top of his head, but he didn’t mind. “… _Can you do that?_ ”

“… I’ll… I’ll try…” nodded the girl. “A-And… there’s _no way_ I’ll ever forget this place… or what happened.”

He grimaced at those words. Of course she wouldn’t.

“ _I’m sorry, Yonaka_.” She blinked at his apology.

“… No, I-I don’t mean it that way.” She shook her head. He glanced up from his chest, and he could see a small, but genuine smile in her face. “I just… even after everything… I’m so glad I met you.”

The Mogeko stared at her in awe and hid his face in her chest once again, concealing the faint warmth in his cheeks.

“ _Yeah… I’m glad too_.”

Yonaka was happy he felt the same way; she knew the feeling was mutual, but it still hurt the fact that he had to leave. After all, he gave his life for her… that was why, she had to live now, for his sake… and the ones who helped her as well. Even if it hurt to lose him again, she would try her best to keep on living.

“ _They’ll help you… the special Mogekos… they will_.”

“I know… even after I did, they still cared about me, like you.”

He huffed.

He started to feel so sleepy, and Yonaka’s body was soft and warm. He could easily fall asleep… but to never wake up again.

“I don’t want you to go… I don’t… want you to leave me again.” Yonaka’s voice sounded like a sad lullaby, from very far away. He almost didn’t catch her words.

“ _I’d… do anything… to not to leave you, missy… but… you know_.”

His words were raspy, dragged. Even the pronunciation of a word was hard enough to say.

“… Mr. Defect Mogeko…?”

“ _Mm?_ ”

“… I-I… There’s something I had been wanting to tell you… back when we discovered the new location of the library, but… I was scared, so I never asked you.”

He was trying his best to keep paying attention, but the more they snuggled, the most he wanted to sleep.

“ _Yeah…?_ ”

“… If… If I had asked you… that time… to elope with me… what would you’ve said?”

 _Elope_ …?

Where had he heard of the that word before? It was… it was… oh!

He tried to imagine it, the situation, the way she could have asked it… and his reaction.

He chuckled.

“ _I would’ve said… you were being ridiculous_ …” Yonaka smiled, it was almost like her dream. “… _but… eventually… I would’ve said yes_.”

Her heart filled with warmth and the tears kept rolling down her pale cheeks. She nodded and caressed the torn ear.

“… Y-You are tired… why don’t you go to sleep?”

It wasn’t like she could stop it, anyway. But she sensed that he wanted her to let him go first. She let out a painful sob when she looked the sky turning lighter.

He didn’t give her any reply.

The sun was rising.

General Hashasky watched teary eyed the scene away from him. He and Moge-kov saw how the sleeping Mogeko’s body started to dissolve in… dust? _No_ , he corrected himself, he was burnt to death… _he dissolved in ashes_ … in the girl’s arms. The Hashasky wanted to comfort her, but Moge-kov’s stern look didn’t let him. He understood what she was saying: this girl needed to stand up on her own.

Yonaka sighed and hugged herself, sobbing quietly.

What now?

Almost as if she asked that out loud, she gasped at feeling _them_ roaming inside her.

**_You can just let me out, Yonaka-tan~_ **

She closed her eyes, shaking her head. She wouldn’t let Lord Prosciutto out ever again. She needed to find a way to keep them inside her, to never let them out. She had to do this, she wanted to get free from all this… She had to…-

“Yonaka.”

She opened her eyes and gasped at watching at some female Mogeko.

“Y-You are…”

“This is my true form. I’m Pancetta.” Introduced herself the goddess.

She seemed serious.

Yonaka’s dark gray eyes were puffy from crying, and looked so… so tired of all this. Pancetta squinted her eyes.

“…. There’s something… I need to talk about with you.”

**_You better don’t listen to her, just a few hours ago, she wanted you… she wanted us dead. Don’t trust any of her words._ **

Yonaka twisted her body in pain. It was taking her a lot of force to contain the deity inside. It was too much.

“I know you want to be free… and I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you that you’ll always be Prosciutto’s vessel.” Yonaka stared at her in shock. “As long as you live, Prosciutto will only possess _you_.”

The girl stared at the melting snow, and felt new tears filling her eyes.

“However, I have something to propose you.” Pancetta kneeled down in front of her, searching her eyes. “Let’s make a deal.”

The human pressed her lips together.

Could she trust this goddess? After everything, she still was the one who possessed her precious protector and used him to try to kill her.

Her eyes turned red for a second, then she shook her head.

“… Yonaka… please…” her eyes sparkled, and the girl noticed there was sorrow behind her gaze. “Let me help you… I… I know what I did, and I’m sorry I did this to you… but this was what I was taught to do as the Greatest Goddess… I thought you were an obstacle to get through Prosciutto… but I was wrong. Even if you’re not a Mogeko, you’re still are a living creature, and I shouldn’t have looked down on you. So please… I’m begging you to trust me… and let me help you. You may not be completely free… but I’ll give you as much freedom as I can.”

Yonaka stared at the majestic look on the black eyes. They were very beautiful…

She wanted to… she wanted so many things: she wanted to apologize to Shinya, he wanted to thank all the special Mogekos for helping her, she wanted Moge-ko to perish, she wanted to hug Mr. Defect Mogeko forever.

But, above all things…

She wanted to be free, and that was something she wouldn’t get. Ever.

But… at least, she could get better.

So, she shakily raised her hand and took the goddess’ hand.


	5. Unraveling feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These kind of feelings were too complicated to put into words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm back.  
> I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to update today. I don't feel good, so I've considered taking a break. Still, writing for you guys makes me feel better. So I'll do my best.  
> Don't worry though, I'm planning on uploading more Mogeko Castle fanfics, I think it deserves more love.  
> Hope you like this chapter!!

Yonaka _craved_ for a bath.

She had been working for a while, and she thought she deserved some time alone, away from all the Mogekos. While she walked towards the enormous tub filled with hot water, a knock on the door startled her.

“Ye-Yes?!” asked a little nervous.

“It’s Moge-kov.” Came the female soft voice from the other side.

“Oh…” she let out a sigh of relief. “Come in.”

The female Hashasky opened the door, and was holding some towels and clothes. Yonaka stared at her.

“Do you mind if we take a bath together?” the girl blinked, a little surprised. “I’ve read in books that bathing together strengthens relationships.”

“U-Uh… sure…”

They silently undressed without looking each other. Yonaka undid her braids and winced at noticing her hair dirtied with blood. She stared at the new marks in her forearms, they were a dark red, almost like dried blood. When she stepped in the bathtub, she heard Moge-kov.

“I can wash your hair.” Offered the female, although, it sounded more like an order. She would do it anyway, and Yonaka didn’t really mind.

“Oh, okay…”

At first, she thought she would have to endure Moge-kov’s hard treat, but her hands and fingers were surprisingly gentle cleaning her scalp and rest of her hair. She hugged her knees while she felt the female massaging her, then closed her yes.

Two days ago, she made a deal with Pancetta, the greatest goddess.

* * *

_“I’ll drag Prosciutto out of you.”_

_“What…?”_

_“Since you’re the only vessel for Prosciutto, and you want to keep on living, then I’ll have to restrain him as long as possible.”_

_“I-I don’t understand.”_

_“You see, you’re Prosciutto’s free pass to this world, so, even if I drag them out of here with me, Prosciutto will be back… as long as you live.” Yonaka pursed her lips and nodded. “That’s why, I’m going to give you something to protect yourself while you’re on your own.” She gently grabbed her wrists and pulled them towards her. She rubbed her fingers together, and a sparkly dust fell to the human’s soft skin._

_Then, suddenly, Yonaka let out a moan of pain at the burning sensation in her arm. She gasped at noticing weird red symbols shining in her skin, then squirmed when the deity inside her screamed in rage and sorrow._

**_PANCETTA! YOU…!! HOW DARE YOU TO… USE THAT ON ME…?!_ **

_“Ahh!!” her eyes turned red._

_“It’s okay, I know it hurts, but you need to endure it a little longer… Trust me.”_

_It felt like her skin was melting at the fire marks eating her skin. She started to cry, desperate. Not only her arms… but her heart burnt too! It felt like it was about to burst from the pain._

_Suddenly, as if a fresh balm was applied to her arms, the pain suddenly stopped. She breathed out, relieved._

_“Wh-What…”_

_“It’s done, Yonaka. Prosciutto is no longer inside you.”_

_She opened her eyes to look at the goddess, shocked. She brought a hand to her chest, feeling the beating of her heart._

_“… B-But you said…”_

_“Prosciutto is gone, for now.” Clarified solemnly. “This is only temporal, that’s where I come in, and I’ll restrain Prosciutto. Besides, it’ll be harder to possess you, since I gave you these.” She showed her the weird tattoos. “This will prevent Prosciutto to possess you, unless you give them the permission.”_

_“… Why would I do that?”_

_“You never know, Yonaka. And every time your heart and mind get weak, it’ll be easier for them to take over.”_

_“Oh…”_

_“Alright. That’s it for you… now… I’ll have to act for myself.” She turned deadly serious. “Yonaka… the next part… it’s very important.”_

_The girl blinked. Was there more of this…?_

* * *

“Are you worried about what happened?”

Yonaka briefly glanced at her direction and contemplated a few seconds the cute ears in Moge-kov’s head. Then, she stared at the water.

“… A little.”

“It’s okay to think about it, it helps you to process it better…I think.”

“You think?” deadpanned the girl.

“My apologies, but I’m not sure how humans work. I’ve just been reading.”

“Reading?”

“That… Weird Mogeko, or whatever, and that Moffuru have tons of books about humans.” By Yonaka’s weird look, Moge-kov almost smiled. “I don’t mean those disgusting magazines, I’m referring to _actual books_. It seems they find you humans… fascinating.”

“… I see… and what did you read?”

Something in Moge-kov’s gaze touched Yonaka’s heart. There was something about her eyes… she always seemed so cold-hearted and insensitive, but… there was genuine curiosity in her eyes, as if she didn’t know anything of the world.

“… You are weird, but interesting at the same time.” Murmured, then proceeded. “You seem to know a lot about how emotions work.”

“Emotions?”

“We Hashaskys, in a sense, are like Mogekos. We just follow our instincts, at first. Those are the first things that come with us once we’re born. We were made to protect. Our only duty is to live for our leader, it’s honorable dying because of him.”

“You mean Mr. General?”

Moge-kov nodded.

“Why? The Mogekos protected their king as well, but…”

“Please.” Huffed mockingly the female Hashasky. “That mogeko was a tyrant. He didn’t protect those yellow pests, he just let them do what they pleased, and ordered others to protect them in case of something happening.” Said, referring to the seven guardians. “He never cared… _they_ never cared.”

“So… Hashaskys’ instincts are… like… always protecting not only their leader, but their own kind as well?”

“That’s right.” She grabbed a bucket of water. “Close your eyes.” The human obeyed while Moge-kov dropped the water on her hair, washing away the bubbles and the blood. “I think it’s clean now.”

Yonaka brushed her hair with her fingers and nodded.

“Do you want me to…?” offered timidly. Moge-kov stared at her a few seconds.

“… Sure, just watch the ears.”

Yonaka used extreme care to wash Moge-kov’s hair. She reflected on everything she told her just now. Hashaskys were meant to protect, that was their main goal, and, since it was such an empathic instinct, it wasn’t weird that emotions and thoughts would become clearer and clearer over time. They were more reasonable than Mogekos, who, on the other hand, were aggressive perverts who didn’t care about their victim’s feelings. However, the seven guardians were different. Somewhat Strange Mogeko warned her about the castle, and gave her information about finding another way out. Prosciutto Fairy gave her a key that worked on most locks of the castle. Blood Spirit helped her to teleport to the next floor. Hasu told them about Moge-ko’s secret passage. Moffuru hid her from the horrible monster. Mogecukoo sacrificed himself. And Nega Mogeko protected her from the beginning to the very end.

… _even after the end, actually_. She mentally corrected herself.

But then, why Moge-kov was telling her this? Hashaskys were more emotional, yes… but… weren’t they aware of this?

“… You told me this… because you don’t know how these emotions work?”

“… Kind of. I know I have to protect my General and the weaker Hashaskys as well. But… it’s not just a mission… I _want_ to.”

“Wouldn’t that be because you _care_ about them?”

Moge-kov frowned.

“… that’s the thing. I think I may have these feelings, and, maybe, I’ve had them for a long time, but I don’t know how they work, and it’s irritating.”

“Well, feelings don’t always make sense. They just… are there. Even you can’t explain them, you have no option but to feel them.”

“That’s how it is?”

“Sometimes, yes.”

Yonaka never meant to love Shinya in the way she did before he changed forever. It just happened, and when she realized, she felt horrified, but happy at the same time. Love was supposed to be wonderful, but it cost her a lot.

And then, her feelings changed when she came to this castle.

“Love is a good example. You just feel it, even if it’s right or wrong.”

“Why would it be wrong?”

“Umm…” she _really_ didn’t want to talk about Shinya. “Y-You know, like… Mogekos _loving_ hurting innocent girls.”

Moge-kov turned briefly and stared at her, then turned back.

“… D-Don’t worry!! There are good kinds of love too!! Like, loving the family, or friends or…

“You _can_ love someone?” interrupted the Hashasky. She seemed deeply confused.

The girl stopped washing her hair, shocked.

Yonaka couldn’t believe it. These creatures, indeed, tented to follow their instincts. If there were feelings, they wouldn’t pay any attention to them? Or, maybe…

She remembered Defect Mogeko’s words, telling her how he became defective because he _expressed_ his thoughts to mogeko.

This was, by far, worse than she imagined.

That was why the guardians seemed traitors too. Moge-ko, they told them, tried to kill the guardians because they wanted to do something right; something they believed was okay.

They were horrible, mogeko and Moge-ko.

“… Of course, you can.”

Moge-kov only knew the word because Hashaskys used it to praise the frozen yogurt. Hell, even her General used it with a gleeful expression every time he ate it.

“You can love someone… because you care about them, you want them to be okay… and… you may… want to be by their side, no matter what…”

Moge-kov listened closely to her explanation.

“… Do you… perhaps… feel that way for someone?”

Moge-kov didn’t answer her, she just kept repeating the words Yonaka used to explain what were exactly those feelings.

“Umm… what other things you feel? They don’t have to be always love.” Tried to change the subject.

“… There’s a boiling inside me… my heart beats strong… whenever I think about Mogekos in general.”

“… You hate them?”

“… I think I do.” Conceded and closed her eyes, “It’s not the same with thise guardians, though… It’s like the things I feel for you, the need to… pay you back for what you did for the General.”

“You feel in debt with us?... or… thankful?”

Suddenly, Moge-kov turned to directly look at her, startling the poor girl. Her cerulean eyes were almost glaring at her.

“Wh-What…?”

Her gaze softened.

“Nothing. Keep going.”

Yonaka washed her hair without saying anything.

* * *

“I think this should be enough.”

“Do you like it?”

“… Um, yes.”

She hated Lord Prosciutto falling asleep in Moge-ko’s room. It was unsettling, and she always felt like she was in danger. Now, the guardians of the castle decided to make her a room in the sixth floor, after cleaning it from all the blood splattered on the floor.

“Seriously, I really don’t know _how_ Nega was able to clean all this. I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Yonaka flinched at hearing the green Mogeko’s name. Somewhat Strange Mogeko subtly nudged the fairy in the belly, silently reprimanding him for mentioning the guardian of the seventh floor.

Now that she thought about it, she never knew _him_ … not really. She just found out about his real identity right before he died. She didn’t know what he used to like, or dislike… what were his hobbies besides spending time with the others special Mogekos. Those thoughts depressed her more.

“Miss Yonaka.”

“Ah! Sorry, yes, the… room is lovely, thank you.”

Somewhat Strange Mogeko didn’t reply, and glanced briefly at Moffuru, who nodded.

“… By the way, how is Blood Spirit doing?”

“Oh. He’s okay. He can’t still get up from bed, but he’s better.”

Blood Spirit collapsed after all those things happened. He was the one who used his powers the most that night, and almost died because of it. Now, he was in the hospital, being taken care of by Moffuru.

“That’s good. We could visit him.” Suggested the fairy.

“Yes, indeed. Well, we need to leave now. Miss Yonaka is very tired and deserves a good sleep. We’ll see you in the morning.”

“… Yeah.”

When the first guardians exited her room, she noticed Moffuru still silently looking at her.

“… Is something wrong?”

“Hoo, hoo… I wonder the same, miss Yonaka.” Laughed softly the fluffy Mogeko. “There’s something I want to ask you.”

She took a seat in the edge of her bed, while the white Mogeko sat in a chair nearby a kind of desk.

“… What is it?”

“I’ve been reading medical books… human books to look for a cure for Mofukos.” He told her. “Since our medicine didn’t work, I thought you humans could have something useful… and I encountered something quite interesting, but not what I was looking for.” Yonaka noticed the Mogeko turned serious.

“… What did you find?”

“I found this book talking about _mental health_. And I was fascinated that human brains could work that way. You’re deeply connected to your experiences and emotions.” He straightened himself before speaking. “I want to offer you my help.”

“… E-Eh?”

“Maybe, you already had some issues in the past, but the Mogekos ended up triggering your worst emotions and thoughts, so… If you let me, I could help you to regain your mental health… or, as you would say, get better!”

Yonaka stared at him in great surprise. After the repairing and cleaning of the castle, she didn’t think they would still lend a hand to her.

“… I-I don’t know… I, uh… I don’t feel that bad anymore, but…”

“That doesn’t mean you’re okay, miss Yonaka.” Interrupted her gently the Mogeko. Moffuru sighed. “We want to help you, since you’ve done so much for us… I really think you deserve a fair treatment. And, everything we talk is completely private. The book said that it was patience’s privacy and all that… We Mogekos aren’t exactly secretive about sickness or health, but, for you, I can make an exception.”

Yonaka considered his words. She had been busy the last two days helping the guardians, but avoiding the other Mogekos, since she was still “the king” of _Yonaka Castle_. However, she wasn’t prepared to face that perverted creatures, maybe never. She just wanted to get out of here, but… there was _someone_ holding her back from leaving.

“… I’ll think about it.”

Moffuru seemed satisfied by her answer.

“Of course, miss Yonaka. Take all the time you need to think it through. No one has to know you’ll do this. It’ll be our secret.”

“Okay…”

“Well, then. I’ll leave you to rest. Good night.” He stood up and walked towards the door.

“… Night…” muttered when the door closed.

Yonaka finally pulled the sheets to cover herself and rolled herself up to sleep.

* * *

The General let out a little “eek!” when he heard someone knocking his door. The guardians gave him the former king’s room. It was cleaned and renovated to make him comfortable, but he could still detect some disturbing smells in here. He felt already creeped out in this room, so when someone approached his room, he was scared out of his fur.

“Wh-Who…?!”

“It’s me, my General.”

He let out a long sigh.

“… Come in, Moge-kov.”

The female opened the door and scrunched her nose a little at the smell.

“I can see why you don’t like this room.”

“… I really appreciate their hospitality, but they can’t deny that… this place gives me the creeps.”

“It used to be enemy territory.” Pointed out Moge-kov.

“Yes…” the Hashasky walked to the bed and sat on it. Moge-kov followed him and sat right beside him.

“… I talked to the girl today.”

“You did?”

“Yes. We took a bath together.” That surprised him a little.

“… You never do that.”

“She’s a female. I wanted to give it a try, and it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. We washed each other’s hair.”

“… That’s… good?”

“It was.” The female squinted her eyes. “I just wanted to properly thank her for what she did… for helping you.”

“I see… um, did you ask her if…?”

“I didn’t, but it’s obvious that she’s not okay. She didn’t get what she wanted, but it’s something, at least. She had to live through that. I just met her, I thought that asking her wouldn’t be… polite.” She looked at him. “But I asked her a few things.”

“Uh?”

“I was surprised she took pity on you; on someone she didn’t even know… and she still helped you. So I was curious, since humans know how to deal with their emotions.”

“Oh, I noticed that too! She seems to know what she feels, although… that caused her some misery.” Muttered sadly.

“I think she can overcome this, as long as she let the guardians help her.”

Both stayed silent for a few minutes. The general glanced at her a few seconds. She seemed deep in thought. Was there something she wasn’t telling him?

“My General?”

“Yes?”

“Do you _love_ frozen yogurt?”

… What?

He blinked. What was she saying now?

“… Uh, yes? I thought you knew that already, even _you_ do. Why are you…?”

“I’m just… I wanted to know if you love something above frozen yogurt.”

Moge-kov almost smiled at watching how he deeply thought about her question. It was like she was asking her something sensitive and secret. He played with his scarf, reflexing on her question, muttering to himself.

“… I think I do.”

“Oh?”

“I think I love my people... _more_ than I love frozen yogurt.” By Moge-kov’s gaze on him, he stuttered, flushed and embarrassed, he proceeded. “I-I think… my people are more important than actual food, it may… uh, it may make me feel good eating it, but… uh, I think… I think I’m happier watching over my people… and make sure they’re okay.”

Moge-kov stared at him, then smiled a little.

“I see, are we your top priority, General?”

“I-I… maybe? It’s… uh, how do I say this…?” muttered the very frustrated Hashasky. He wasn’t sure why Moge-kov was asking him this, but he wanted to be honest with her. Letting her know he cared… _seemed important_. “I think… my people… are important, but… M-Moge-kov… you may be… m-more… more important…” The last words were stumbled, and the female almost didn’t hear them.

But she did.

Her smile widened and stood up to leave.

“Moge-kov?”

“I think I’ve got what I wanted. Have pleasant dreams, my General.”

The general stared at the door after his protector left.

“… What the heck just happened?”

* * *

Yonaka grimaced at wearing the new uniform the Mogekos gave her. It wasn’t from her school, since the one she was wearing was completely shredded. While Prosciutto Fairy offered to make her a new one exactly like the one she wore, she had to wear the ones they had in the castle. It wasn’t that different from her uniform, since the skirt design was the same, but gray. The blouse was white as well, and the cardigan was black. The only thing that stayed the same was the cute red bowtie that tied her chest. She kept her shoes and encountered new dark gray socks. They weren’t that long like the ones she liked, but she wasn’t going to complain.

… What _really_ disturbed her was the reason why Mogekos had high-school female uniforms.

She sighed. She knew most of them were crazy perverts, but she had to appreciate the guardians for giving her this.

She walked out of her room and glanced at the empty halls. That didn’t make her feel better. It kind of reminded her the events that happened before Defect Mogeko’s death.

She shuddered.

“Good morning, miss Yonaka.”

She glanced down at Moffuru, who was kindly smiling at her.

“I came to escort you to the hospital!”

“G-Good morning… Thank you.”

“I apologize if you feel lonely, but you know we can’t let the Mogekos alone for too long.”

“I-It’s okay! You’re already doing so much for me…”

“Nonsense!! Hoo, hoo!! I’ll escort you to the hospital, then we’ll have breakfast!! How does that sound?”

“G-Great, thanks…”

“Mogekov asked us if he could come with us, do you mind?”

“… you mean Mr. General?”

“Yes, that one.”

“Uh, I don’t mind. Besides, it would be nice to know how he’s doing…”

“Yes, indeed. Even, he offered to put his Hashaskys in this floor, if that makes you feel better.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but I think you should discuss that directly with him.”

“Okay…”

They stopped in the leader of the Hashasky’s room, then directed towards the hospital. Coming down seemed off to Yonaka. She got used to going upper and upper in the castle. Now that she was going down, it felt weird. When they entered the hospital, the Mogekos went deadly silent, staring intently at Yonaka. The girl could feel the anxiety bubbling in her stomach, almost going up to her throat to throw up.

“Miss Yonaka.”

She glanced at the white creatures staring at them. Moffuru was serious, while the general seemed concerned at her pale expression.

“Remember, you’re still the monarch of this castle. Even if they want to, they can’t hurt you. You have to make them fear you, don’t let them know you fear them.”

The girl shakily nodded, but they kept walking. The Hashasky grabbed her hand all the way until they walked towards the fourth floor of the hospital.

“Um, I think I’ll stay outside.” Said the general.

“Eh? Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’ll talk with you during breakfast. I’ll wait until you come out.”

Yonaka stared at him, then nodded and followed Moffuru to the room that only the guardians were allowed to enter. When she entered, Somewhat Strange Mogeko and Prosciutto Fairy were already there. They stared at her and Moffuru.

“Good morning, miss Yonaka.” Greeted the first guardian.

“Hi…”

“How are you today?” asked the fairy. “Did you have a good sleep?”

“… Surprisingly, yes.” They nodded, smiling. She frowned. “Um… How is _he_?”

Moffuru cleared his throat.

“Eh, still the same. Seems like his body need a lot to catch on. I don’t blame him, though. I can’t imagine how much energy he needs to finally wake up.”

Yonaka squinted her eyes and glanced nervously at the sleeping Mogeko in the stretcher. It really _did_ seem like he was just sleeping, as if it was just a nap. But since he was resurrected… Nega-Mogeko hadn’t opened his eyes.

* * *

_“What’s next?”_

_Pancetta stared at her for a moment, then stood up._

_“I’m going to do something that may get me in trouble, but it’s the only solution I have for all of us.”_

_“Eh?”_

_“Since Nega-Mogeko is the one I chose to possess, it’s my one and only vessel as well. It’s the same with you and Prosciutto, do you understand?”_

_“Ye-Yes…”_

_“But Nega-Mogeko was already dead. It’s supposed to be impossible for me to come back and help you.” She looked deeply serious at her. “… but I’ll make an exception, and… I’ll resurrect him.”_

_Moge-kov and the general stared at each other, shocked by the goddess’ proposal. But they wouldn’t interrupt. This was about Yonaka._

_The girl stared in shock at Pancetta._

_“… Y-You’ll bring him back? Permanently? He’ll stay?” asked frantically._

_“I wouldn’t say permanently, but yes. I’ll give him another chance. But this is all business, Yonaka.” Indicated the goddess. “I need him to be alive since I’ll be able to possess his body in case Prosciutto takes over you.”_

_“… Oh.”_

_“I promise you I’ll do everything in my power to prevent you two from fighting, but there’s a possibility we may. I need to be honest with you about this. Please understand.” Yonaka pressed her lips, but didn’t reply. “And one last thing: Mogekos are different from humans.”_

_“… I think it’s quite obvious.” Said the girl with a sigh._

_Pancetta smiled at her almost apologetic._

_“Yes… the thing is, the body may stay the same, with all the wounds and scars experienced, but Nega-Mogeko’s mind could reboot.” The girl blinked a few times, not sure what she meant. “This means, this resurrection would be interpreted as a re-birth. There’s the possibility he may not remember… anything at all.”_

_She paled._

_“Wh-Wha… Why?! You can bring him back without doing that!! Why would he forget everything?”_

_Would he forget everything about her too?_

_“I’m really sorry, Yonaka. But Nega-Mogeko’s soul is severely damaged. If I force it the way he was, his soul could definitely break, and he’ll definitely perish.”_

_Yonaka wanted to protest, but stopped herself. She almost got broken too, and it wasn’t exactly pleasurable. She didn’t want that for her protector._

_Pancetta took pity in the poor girl, so the grabbed firmly her shoulders, startling her._

_“Have faith!”_

_“Eh…?”_

_“Souls can heal while they’re alive. Your soul’s starting to heal. Nega-Mogeko’s could as well. He may remember, but you need to give him time, just like you need time to recover from old wounds.”_

_New tears rolled down her cheeks, but eventually nodded._

_“… So, you’re okay with this?”_

_“Ye-Yes…” sobbed. “I-I’ll try to… be strong…”_

_Pancetta sighed and approached her face to kiss her forehead, surprising the girl a little._

_“Thank you.”_

* * *

Yonaka still remembered the special Mogeko’s faces when she told them what happened. They were all shocked when they found her hugging the sleeping form of the guardian of the seventh floor close to her chest. He was warm again, and he was actually _breathing_. The guardians were so happy to have their partner back, that they cried of happiness.

… But it would take some time to adjust to this.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko took note on everything Yonaka told her about Pancetta’s instruction. Him and Moffuru examined her tattoos, concluding they almost looked like they were part of her skin now. Blood Spirit finally let out a breath of relief to finally faint of fatigue. Prosciutto Fairy helped him and wondered out loud what it would be like to raise Nega-Mogeko _all over again_.

But he hadn’t waken up yet, so they took advantage of it to repair some things and show some hospitality to the Hashaskys, though that caused some crisis between the white creatures and the Mogekos who still were loyal to the formers monarchs.

Her dark gray eyes wandered to the new scars, the ones he got before he died for the first time, and then stared at his arms. Thanks to his fur, they weren’t that noticeable, but she knew they were there: the marks of Pancetta. He got the same symbols from the ones the goddess had in her own arms.

 _It’s just a matter of time_ , thought the girl.

He would wake up, he wouldn’t remember any of the things that happened, but… eventually, he would.

And, until that moment, she needed to heal, so he would know that everything he did wasn’t in vain. She wanted to be okay or, at least, better than the last time they saw each other.

So, before they retreated the hospital, noticing that Moffuru was a little away from the others, she approached him.

“Mr. Moffuru.” She called him gently.

“Ah, miss Yonaka. What can I help you with?”

“… I thought about it… and… okay.”

“Oh?”

“I… want to get better, so… I accept to be your first patient to treat mental health.”

“Hoo, hoo!! That’s marvelous!! Oh, I’m so excited to try it!! I swear you won’t regret it!” he jumped excitedly.

She giggled.

“Yes, thank you.”

“I’ll visit you during supper to let you know about our first official meeting, yes?”

“Okay.”

“Well, until then!! Have a nice day, miss!!”

“Yes, you too.”

The girl exited the hospital, this time, with a strong aura around her, ignoring the Mogeko’s heated glare. General Hashasky, who was waiting for her in the exit, smiled at her for the change of mood.

“Why, miss Yonaka. You look so happy!”

“I am! Oh! You wanted us to have breakfast together, right? Do you want me to invite Moge-kov?”

“O-Oh!!” he blushed. “Th-That won’t be necessary, miss. Moge-kov got up before sunrise to train with the others Hashaskys. She already had breakfast.”

“Oh…” came the deflated responde from Yonaka, but then noticed there was something bugging the little leader. “Perhaps… you want to talk to me about something?”

“Ye-Yes…”

“About…?”

“… Umm, can it be… somewhere else? It’s kind of personal, although I don’t know exactly why it feels personal, but I really don’t know how to explain these feelings, s-so…!”

 _Ah, feelings_.

Yonaka wondered if this had something to do with the little conversation she had with Moge-kov last night. Judging by the nervous Hashasky, she guessed so.

“Okay, we can talk in my room.”

Yonaka hadn’t been in the castle that long, but she knew Lord Prosciutto ate in her body, and, it seemed, she was quite tired of eating prosciutto all the time. No matter what time it was, breakfast, lunch, supper… it always was prosciutto. At least, she could eat some tea to help her to swallow it. How could these Mogekos eat it every day? She still didn’t get it. So, when they started eating, she avoided the ham while the leader of the Hashaskys ate it in silence.

“Um, Mr. General? You like prosciutto?”

“Not much. We don’t eat it that often. Normally, we eat yogurt.”

“You do?”

“Yes! We love yogurt, we can eat it like breakfast, we can use it to bake sweets, but frozen yogurt is the best! It’s the one I like the most!!”

She sweat dropped.

Each of these creatures seemed to have an obsession.

“Does Moge-kov like frozen yogurt the most too?”

The Hashasky froze, then flushed.

“… Yes…” Yonaka noticed his weird behavior.

“… Is Moge-kov the reason why you wish to discuss something with me?”

“Um, she told me you were good with… feelings and all. And I said something to her last night… I’m not sure if I made her upset… I hope not! She asked me…!! And I’m always honest to her!! Sh-She’s my precious comrade…!!”

“Mr. General… I think you should breathe.”

“I’M BREATHING!!”

“… I mean, calm your nerves.”

The general sighed.

“My apologies, it’s just… I don’t know.”

“Um… if I may know… What did you tell her?”

“She asked if I loved something more than frozen yogurt!!”

She stared.

“… What?”

“It’s weird question, right?!?!”

“… you really love frozen yogurt…”

“Who doesn’t?! It’s the best thing in the world!! I thought she knew that! But then… I think it was my fault, since I got all weird and…” by Yonaka’s curious gaze, he proceeded. “I… told her I love watching over my people… and make sure they’re happy and…”

“That’s sweet.”

“CARING IS NOT SWEET!!”

“Why not? It’s really touching…”

“You said what I loved was a candy before!!”

“Candy? I never said that!!”

“But you said it was sweet!!”

“It is…! Wait, I didn’t mean it literally!”

“You didn’t?”

Yonaka wondered how many figurative expressions these creatures knew. They wouldn’t be much, she was sure.

“… When I said sweet, I meant it in a way that it’s a nice gesture.”

“… Oh. You humans speak weird.”

“Just keep going. I don’t think it was weird what you said. If that’s how you feel…”

“N-No!! The weird thing was that I told her I loved her above all that!!”

She widened her eyes.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“… What?”

“… You confessed your feelings to her?” gasped the girl. “I-I mean, I thought you two looked adorable, but…”

“What?!”

“I can’t believe you did that. You seemed so… shy around her, although she’s with you all the time.”

“I-I’m not shy!!”

“Fine, let’s say… you’re… more careful when she’s around, like, you want to make a good impression of yourself when she’s near.”

“… That… may be true.”

“So, you _do_ love her?”

“I-I just never thought about it!! I always felt Moge-kov was my top priority all the time, I always wanted her to be safe during missions… I wanted her to be with me, but I didn’t want her to protect me, she could get hurt… it’s just… I thought it wasn’t necessary to say it. But now that I’m aware of it… it feels… weird!! Why does it feel weird?!”

“… Maybe you want her to love you back?” The general looked at her, confused. “In my world, when you say you love someone, and I mean it when you love someone differently from others… like that person is the one…” she stopped a few seconds, then blushed.

Why was she thinking about _that dream_ now?

She cleared her throat.

“Well, I guess you know what I mean, since you feel like Moge-kov is your most important person.”

“Yes?”

“Anyway, when that happens, the purpose of that is that you want to be with her, not only as your protector, or your friend… you want a deeper connection, and you can show it with loving gestures.”

“Loving… gestures?”

“There’re many ways to show love towards someone, like… hugging, kissing, holding hands…”

“Is that necessary?”

“… I don’t think so? I think the main goal is to be near that person and know that… that person loves you too. Those actions can happen only if you want them to happen. But… I really don’t know, I’ve never been in a relationship before…”

“Then how do you know so much about this? It’s because you’re human?”

“… Yes? There’re tons of book that talk about love.”

“Oh!!”

“If you’re still not sure, I’m sure Mr. Somewhat Strange Mogeko has some books about that.”

“Mm… but, miss Yonaka, haven’t you loved someone before?”

She almost dropped the cup of tea at that question. She shuddered at remembering Shinya, then softened her gaze.

“… I have, but I never had a relationship with that person.”

“Why not? Were you sad?”

 _Terrified was the best word_ , the grimly thought.

“Umm… I think it wasn’t meant to happen. And don’t worry, you can fall in love again.”

“You can?”

“Yes, but of course, that depends on each person.”

He stared at her, curious, but doubtful of asking her further.

“… What about… What about Nega-Mogeko?”

"..."

"..."

“What?! What are you…?!”

“It’s just… the first time I saw you, you were together… I didn’t think anything then, but… I saw you… hugging him until he died. I thought he was very important to you, you even cried for his sake. And you looked… so happy when he was brought back by that Pancetta goddess.”

Yonaka pressed her lips. There were memories she tried to suppress, but they appeared in flash in her mind. It was true that Defect Mogeko, unlike the others, had treated with more respect, but he was almost like the guardians in that sense. The difference there was that he kept going by her side, keeping her sane from the horrors of the castle. And, she felt like, she was the same for him, like she was his way to cope with all this too. Then, that became a kind of partnership, watching over each other’s backs, until they started to care _too much_. He started to notice all the times she started to doze off and think about her fatal fate once she’d come home, and she would notice that he was trying to be strong for her, even though he felt weak sometimes. It was cute, she felt the urge to hug him so tightly to her chest. There was that moment too when she really considered running away from the castle with him.

But then…

She shook her head when she remembered the bullet that shot her protector right at the chest. She still felt the warm blood in her hands, in her clothes… she could smell it… then, the fire, burnt flesh… death, death, death, _death_ …

“Miss Yonaka?”

“I-I’m sorry!! I got all distracted…” said rapidly, trying to hide the panic attack that was about to burst out of her throat.

The general noticed something off about her behavior, he guessed it was still too soon to talk to her about the guardian of the VII floor.

“It’s okay, miss. You still helped me clear some things…” he smiled. “I think I’ll borrow some books, if you don’t mind.”

“No, it’s fine. Go ahead.”

They talked about irrelevant things, then finished their breakfast. The general said goodbye to the girl and exited her room.

Yonaka gulped and massaged her temples.

She was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> R&R~!!


	6. Crossing paths once again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He sees longing in those eyes... he's not sure why he keeps looking at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi  
> I wasn't sure if I would be able to update, but it turned out better than expected. This story is coming to and end, it'll have two or three more chapters. I still want to write that fic about many rpg games, but I still have to build the structure and all... Anyway, hope you like it!

She felt incredibly stupid.

Her legs were trembling while she walked down to the first floor. She was escorted by Moge-kov, but then she was left alone, since the Hashaskys went out a lot to train. She took a deep breath.

She was invited to Somewhat Strange Mogeko’s tea party. It wasn’t surprising, the Mogeko had told her once he would invite her soon, but she didn’t think he would do it _now_. She shakily walked towards the room where the met the first guardian when she came to the castle for the first time. She raised her hand to knock, but then stopped herself.

What was she doing?, acting all _ridiculous_ …

“It’s open, miss Yonaka!!”

She shrank at hearing a voice from the other side of the door. Of course they would sense her. They could smell the only human in the castle just fine. She huffed, a little annoyed with herself, and opened carefully the door. There, she looked at the special Mogekos.

“Good afternoon, miss Yonaka!!” greeted a very cheerful Prosciutto Fairy. “It’s so nice to see you!! Come in~”

Yonaka timidly smiled at the _five_ Mogekos. The fairy grabbed her hand.

“Guess what!! I found out that sewing is marvelous!! Not only I repaired your uniform, I made tons of clothes for you!!”

“Y-You did?” she wasn’t expecting that. When Prosciutto Fairy offered to repair her clothes, she hoped it would be… something simple? But fixed enough for her to wear it.

“Yes!! I can come tomorrow to your room and bring them so you can try them. I’m sure they all suit you!”

“I don’t know, I hadn’t seen them yet…”

“Don’t worry!! According to your styles and your cuteness, I made pretty things for you, have faith in me~”

She smiled. The special Mogekos were awfully nice to her. Prosciutto Fairy was the one who talked to her the most, since he was already talkative, and the others tried to be very polite to her, but at the same time, very nice.

“Please, miss Yonaka. Have a seat, how many sugar cubes do you want?”

“Uhh, one in fine…” muttered when she sat at the same spot she did the first time she stepped in to this room.

“It’s nice to have you here once again in better circumstances.”

Yonaka smiled genuinely this time.

“Yes, I’m glad.”

“I heard you’re a little tired of prosciutto too, so I brought sushi and some sweets as well. Is that okay?”

Yonaka blushed, embarrassed.

“Wh-What?! Where did you hear that?”

“General Hashasky told me.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, we really don’t mind, but you should’ve told us. If you want something, we’ll do our best to get it for you. After all, you’re still ‘our king’.”

She grimaced a little.

“O-Okay…”

Moffuru approached her and sat beside her.

“You don’t look that pale anymore, miss Yonaka. It seems like you’ve been so much better, yes?”

“Yes, I’m doing better…” she thanked the cup of tea and sipped slowly, then felt her other side being occupied by Prosciutto Fairy.

“We’re _all_ doing better. Don’t you think?” said a very pleased Somewhat Strange Mogeko. “This tea party is to celebrate. The main reasons are that _these two_ are getting better.” He patted the backs of the companions who were taking a seat at both his sides.

One was Blood Spirit, who had been the last week in bed, but now he could get up to reunite with his brothers once again. And the other one…

Yonaka formed a little smile in her lips.

Nega-Mogeko had been awake for a while too. As they expected, he didn’t remember anything. Yonaka only visited him once in the hospital when he woke up, since he didn’t know her, she considered he wouldn’t feel comfortable around her. Now that she had him in front of her, she confirmed he was pretty quiet. Somewhat Strange Mogeko warned her that, when they met, he was very reserved, and it took them a lot of time for him to open up to them. Even, when she came in, she noticed him glancing briefly at her, then he kept reading the book he had been reading for a while, it seemed.

“How are you two feeling?” asked Prosciutto Fairy. Moffuru didn’t bother to ask, since he was the one checking on them constantly.

“Better. I don’t feel sleepy anymore.” Blood Spirit smiled.

“Fine.”

Yonaka, Prosciutto Fairy and Blood Spirit flinched at the short and cold answer. Somewhat Strange Mogeko and Moffuru were already prepared for that kind of attitude. That was why the first guardian decided to lend him a book so he wouldn’t be unnecessarily quiet all the time.

“… That’s… good.”

Moffuru and Somewhat Strange Mogeko tried to appease the tension in the room, and the rest did their best to distract Yonaka from feeling a little hurt by Nega-Mogeko’s indifference. She tried to understand, but it still felt bad the fact that she remembered everything, and he didn’t.

On the other hand, Nega-Mogeko was aware of the human girl’s constant gaze towards him. He wasn’t sure why, but he guessed that it wasn’t important since she wouldn’t talk to him directly. He didn’t care at the moment. However, as the time went by, it began to irk him. He really tried to keep reading, but he still could feel _her_ eyes on him. He still wasn’t sure why this human was the ruler of this castle. As far as he knew, while he read book in the hospital as well, Mogekos used to be the only species that lived around here.

But then, as long as it didn’t concern him, he couldn’t care less.

He decided to look at the girl once, and, not surprised, saw her pretty dark gray eyes on him. He saw her cheeks reddening and she averted her eyes from him.

He sighed and kept reading.

Humans were really weird.

“But you promised…!”

Okay, maybe it wasn’t only the human’s fault that he couldn’t read in peace. Prosciutto Fairy was really noisy.

“It’s cold. Who would enjoy eating frozen yogurt with this weather?”

“But you promised! You’re such a liar!”

“You’re so annoying…” muttered the first guardian. “Fine, the next tea party, I’ll give you frozen yogurt. Now lower your voice! All the castle can hear you.”

“I’m not that loud!!!” exclaimed.

“You are.” Decided to intervene the green Mogeko. “You don’t let me read.”

“I-I’m sorry!! It’s just… I get all excited when I’m happy!!”

He didn’t answer at that. They were happy him and Blood Spirit were back. He wasn’t sure from what, and they told him he didn’t need to worry about that. So he didn’t. Even when he didn’t know them much, they seemed to know him quite well. The fairy seemed unfazed at his cold demeanor.ç

He wondered if the little miss knew him too, or maybe she didn’t, and that was why she couldn’t talk to him. She felt out place? Who wouldn’t?

Yonaka was touched that the other Mogekos tried to distract her from her obvious discomfort, and she was really thankful, but she had been there for almost three hours hearing them talk nonstop, and she was honestly done with this.

“I think I’ll go back to my room.”

“That eaaarlyyy?!” whined the fairy.

“… It’s almost midnight…”

“My tea parties last until dawn.”

“… Oh. Well, I’m sorry…”

“Don’t apologize, miss Yonaka. You need sleep more than all of us. So, you can go.”

“Thank you.”

“Have pleasant dreams.”

“Bye, miss!!”

“See you tomorrow, miss Yonaka!!”

* * *

 _Pleasant dreams_ …

Sadly, she wasn’t able to accomplish that.

She had dreamt that Lord Prosciutto was back in her body, and let her watch what Moge-ko would be doing with her body while they _both_ played. The scene would change, and she woud be facing Shinya, who would be holding the same knife he had the night he almost killed her.

_Would you die for **me**?_

_Yonaka…_

She woke up with a powerful cry almost tearing her throat. She sat up in the bed and looked around, panting. She was in her room. She was alive. She was safe. She was free.

… Not really.

She wasn’t completely free. And she would never be. That was her punishment, for killing Shinya… for killing mogeko… for letting Lord Prosciutto take over her body to let them torture as they pleased. She was weak.

_Why didn’t Pancetta kill her?_

She brought her knees to her chest and started crying quietly, hiding her face.

She couldn’t sleep after that nightmare. She was too scare to close her eyes, so she opened the window and stargazed until the star disappeared.

It was awfully early, but she didn’t want to come back to bed. So she got dressed and walked out of her room. She let out a yawn, but wouldn’t go to sleep. It was still too soon to visit Moffuru for her… _therapy session_. She went to grab some breakfast. She wouldn’t run to any Mogeko, she was sure. They were lazy, so she doubted she would see one.

Since she was so disoriented and tired, it took her a while to come to the first floor to eat something. She was pleasantly surprised when she encountered the Hashaskys eating. When they noticed her, they politely greeted her.

“Good morning, lady Yonaka.”

“Morning.” A vague smiled appeared on her face.

She looked around and grimaced. Of course there wouldn’t be any coffee. If Mogekos were to drink that, they would never stop being annoying. But now, she would’ve loved some to drink in a cold morning like that one.

“I’d say good morning, but you don’t seem to be having one.” Moge-kov’s voice startled her and she turned to face her. “… You’re awfully loud, or we have good ears.”

Yonaka blushed in embarrassment. Wasn’t this fantastic? They heard her having a nightmare, and she felt violated in some way. Couldn’t she have some privacy?

“Aren’t you a little early today?” proceeded the female Hashasky.

“… I was hungry.” Came a little lie from her.

“… Okay. There’re some eggs. Want some?”

“They have prosciutto?”

“Hell no.”

“Then, yes.”

She barely ate the fried eggs, she was so tired of the same food. She craved for some fruits, white noodles, not ramen!! Since she didn’t sleep much, her head starting to ache and she growled under her breath, surprising the Hashaskys and even Moge-kov a little.

She glanced at the clock. It was almost seven. Normally, Somewhat Strange Mogeko would come at that hour to have breakfast along with the others. She stood up, deciding to not to cross path with the special Mogekos for now and went out of the room.

The “trip” to the hospital was shorter, since she could use the elevator peacefully and the Mogekos inside the hospital didn’t dare to look at her. It seemed like they knew she was in a bad mood. When she approached Moffuru’s office, she knocked.

“It’s unlocked.” Came the voice from the other side.

She opened and smiled briefly at the Mogeko.

“Hi…”

“Good morning, miss Yonaka. Hoo, hoo… it’s such a beautiful day, is it?” he turned to smile at her, but noticed the dark eyebags in her face. “… Or not?”

She sighed, dropping her shoulders.

“I don’t think so…”

“Why don’t you tell me the reason why you look like you didn’t sleep?” started friendly. “Did you have breakfast? You’re earlier than usual.”

Since this was all confidential, Yonaka decided not to lie to Moffuru.

“… I had a nightmare last night. I was scared of falling asleep again, so…”

“So, you didn’t.” guessed with an empathetic smile. “You know that’s not good for your health, miss.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t in my right mind… and…”

“You don’t need to apologize to me. I’m telling you this so you could take consideration on your body.” She solemnly nodded. “You’re still young, and we don’t want you to get sick. How have you been this week?”

“… setting aside the nightmare, it has been a fine week, I guess? I sometimes think bad stuff, but… I quickly put them away, since they don’t even make sense, anyway.”

“You quite do that a lot.”

“What?”

“It feels like, you don’t let yourself indulge into your thoughts. Are you scared of them, perhaps?” She frowned.

“Isn’t obvious? If I let myself get weak, Lord Prosciutto could…” her hands started shaking and stared at the ground, cohabited. “I don’t want to feel that _ever_ again…”

Moffuru sighed. He had been expecting this, but he wanted Yonaka to say it, so they could talk about it without her feeling pressed.

“So then, you’re scared that, if you let your guard down, you’ll lose your body and mind again?”

“… Yes…” she squinted her eyes. “And I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore… I’ve… I’ve done enough.”

“What is it that really torments you in the things you’ve done? Apart from mogeko’s death… is there something else?”

There were many things she could say: Shinya, Nega-Mogeko’s death, her snapping and the sudden thirst to make a river of blood… still, she couldn’t.

“… I’m… not ready to tell you yet.”

Moffury conceded that. He wouldn’t force her to tell him anything.

“Can I ask why?”

“I don’t… feel ready and… I… I want to say it, but… not like information to add and make conclusions about my condition. I want to share this… as something… deep.”

Moffuru, who had been writing all this time, stopped, then stared at her.

“… Are you lonely, miss Yonaka?”

“P-Pardon?”

“Are you feeling lonely?” his voice sounded professional, as if he wasn’t the smooth fluffy Mogeko she chatted with last night. “You’re the only human in the castle, after all.”

Yonaka considered his question. The special Mogekos were kind to her, they even spoiled her a little. The Hashaskys were very polite, the general and Moge-kov were nice to her too, in their own way. But…. But…

“I feel like I don’t have someone to talk to… as a friend. I know… there’re people who care about me… but… I just can’t find someone to talk to about my real feelings, my mistakes… about the _real_ me.”

“I see. Miss, if you know you have people around you who would do anything to help you, why don’t you ask? I don’t think they’ll mind.”

She moved nervously in her seat, avoiding his gaze. Then, he understood and smiled softly at her.

“ _Ah_ , I see.”

“Sorry, I-I know it’s not good…”

“What’s so bad about wanting to be friends with Nega, miss Yonaka?”

“… I can’t tell him anything, he must remember on his own.”

“Yes, that is correct. But you can befriend him, and share your feelings with him without telling him anything. You can do that.”

He noticed there was something else bothering her, so he finally moved away the notes.

“Alright, miss Yonaka. Let’s get a little personal here. What is it that bothers you so much about Nega? Is it because he was rude last night? He always has been like that.” Tried to comfort her, but she shook her head.

“It’s not that…”

“Then, what is it?”

“It’s just… I feel like, even if I tried… I can’t reach him. He doesn’t remember me… so why should I get close…? And you all know him so well… I’m just… a stranger.” Her eyes filled with frustrated tears, but refused to shed them.

The guardian stared at her, then chuckled softly.

“… I don’t think that’s true.”

She glanced up.

“Uh?”

“Nega-Mogeko… he has always been like that, like he doesn’t care, when, in reality, he’s aware of everything, considering all the possibilities… he’s always been like way. It took us some time to finally understand him. And… believe me or not, we don’t know him that well as you think… the only people I know they knew him were… the king… and you, miss Yonaka.” Confessed Moffuru.

“Wh-What? Why me? I just… I barely knew his name and…”

“You knew about his true feelings about this castle, the wrong method they used here… you even knew his ideals! Ideals that only the king heard before he considered him a defective. We knew that when the king started to imprison everyone who thought different from him.” Yonaka noticed that the fluffy Mogeko seemed a little melancholic. “We… never knew that until it was too late. He may have made comments here and there about something he was interested in, but we never took consideration into what he _really_ meant.”

Yonaka didn’t expect this from Moffuru. He always seemed so confident, but not he almost seemed small and… so _sad_.

“… That’s why I don’t mind him being all rude to us, since I can know him for real this time. I want to do better this time, so I can protect all my brothers.”

“… You all… really act like a family.” Smiled finally the girl.

“We like to think we are.” Suddenly, Moffuru flinched. “Oh, dear!! I was so OUT of character for a therapist!! I’m so sorry, miss Yonaka…!!”

“It’s okay…!” she giggled a little. “I think I needed to hear that… thank you, Mr. Moffuru.”

“Hoo, hoo! Anytime, but you need to keep this a secret!! If the others find out my lack of professionalism, I’ll never hear the end of it!”

Yonaka let out a louder laugh.

* * *

It was definitely cold outside.

Still, she didn’t care, not with all the clothes Prosciutto Fairy did for her. After visiting Moffuru, she went to see the fairy, who gave her a ton of clothes for different seasons. So she now stayed with a warm coat and a thin dark red scarf. The grass was a little damp, so she decided to walk a little farther to sit somewhere. Talking with Moffuru always helped, but now, she felt so much better after that. Even if her inner demons were still nagging her, she could do this. She was able to get free from a God’s power. She could do anything, right?

She found a rock big enough for her to sit, so she did. Fortunately, the sun was right at above her, so light and warmth bathed her for a while. She closed her eyes and let herself relax a little. Maybe, if she could fall asleep here, for a little… just for a little bit…

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Eeek!!!!”

She was startled by her voice. Yonaka opened her eyes and stared at Nega-Mogeko, who was staring at her.

“… Y-You scared me.”

“I can see that.” Deadpanned back the guardian. “You should head back, it’s not safe for you to be here.”

“Eh?”

“I was told there was a giant monster on the loose, so we shouldn’t let anyone get far from the castle.”

Oh, right.

They never were able to catch Moge-ko’s monster pet, so they decided to worry about that later. And now, Yonaka wasn’t in the mood to wanting to deal with that now. She stood up with a long sigh and nodded.

“Okay…”

“Lunch will be ready soon.”

“…”

“… what?”

“… I… don’t know if I’m hungry.”

“How you _don’t know_?” then, he remembered something he heard last night. “Ah, you’re tired of prosciutto.” She fidgeted, flushed. Something about that shy posture softened his expression. “I have a proposal.”

“Eh?”

“I can get you something different, just tell me what is and I’ll get it for you.”

“Oh!! Th-That’s not necessary…!”

“You’re the ruler here, missy. The thing is to make you feel comfortable and… what?” he asked when he noticed her shocked expression.

 _Missy_.

He had called her _missy_. Not miss, nor miss Yonaka.

It felt so… familiar…

She was so overwhelmed by this… that she started crying in front of him. Nega-Mogeko was shocked at seeing the salty yet shiny tears rolling down her rosy cheeks. This human, without a doubt, was so _weird_. But he was feeling strange too, why did that expression cause such an impact to him? He barely knew her, and still… just like with the special Mogekos, he felt a strong connection with her. He didn’t notice it then, but now that he had her close, he knew.

Yonaka wiped her tears with the sleeve and shyly smiled at him.

“I-I’m so sorry, I just… I sometimes… _feel too much_.”

He kept staring at her.

“… I thought I had upset you somehow.” He told her.

“No, you didn’t… it’s me, I’m sorry.” Giggled when she calmed herself. “Please ignore that, it happens sometimes…”

“Mm.”

She cleared her throat, feeling the lump still there, as if she still wanted to cry out of happiness, but decided against it.

“… So, you’ll get something for me? Can I go with you?”

He didn’t expect that question, but then, he didn’t really care.

“Of course.”

* * *

… Okay, things got out of hand a little.

When they announced the special Mogekos they were going out, she received proud smiles from Somewhat Strange Mogeko and Moffuru. Already knowing what was happening. Prosciutto Fairy and Blood Spirit asked them to bring more sweets, so they went through the door in the seventh floor. Since it was dangerous wandering around in the forest thanks to Moge-ko’s monster, they preferred the easy route. They went to a weird store that had plenty of things that Yonaka doubted they existed in her world. But then, she shouldn’t be surprised. She had been told that the door would led them to any world they liked.

“Hey there, travelers~ welcome to _Everything you want store_!!” appeared a weird looking lady. She had a kind of human form, but her skin was too pinky to be just sunburn, and her hair looked like looking at the stars, it was filled with weird stardust!!

“… Hi… Umm… isn’t it a little long the title?”

“Yeah! I get that a lot, so it’s _EYWS_ for short!”

“O-Okay…”

“So then, what do we have here?” she eyed them both. “Mm… I think your kind is called… _okegom_?”

“Mogeko.” Corrected Nega-Mogeko.

“Ah, yes!! It’s the same but in backwards, I get to do that sometimes… and you…” she stared at Yonaka. “Aren’t you a pretty thing!!”

She visibly flinched. If it were out of these weird worlds, she would’ve got flustered, but now, getting praised was really creepy for her. And the weird creature noticed the green Mogeko’s glare at her for making the girl uncomfortable.

“Oh, I’m sorry!! I don’t know how humans are! I thought I was complimenting you!” whimpered.

“I-It’s fine, it’s no one’s fault…”

“Still, I’m sorry… I’m not used to see humans, and I was happy to finally see one… Anyway, I can get you something for free as an apology!!” she offered her.

“B-But we came here to buy plenty of stuff…”

“Oh, it’s fine! You tell me what you want, then tell me which one of the things want me to get for free!! What kind of stuff are you looking for? Human stuff?”

“U-Uh, yes…”

“Okay! Please, follow me~ many creatures may have things in common with humans, but I always save a hall for you to buy things!! Besides, there’re some other who like human stuff too~” she sang until they reached the place. Yonaka almost felt being in home, it really looked like a normal hall in a market, although this one was enormous. “Okay, take your time~!!”

Yonaka bought some cherries, strawberries, grapes, apples and oranges. She spotted some types of coffee and selected two, mochaccino and vanilla latte. Finally, she got some vegetables to eat too. They got noodles, salmon and other meat in the castle, so she didn’t need to worry about that. The candies, chocolates and sweets were the first thing inside the bag, thinking that the special Mogekos would like it.

Then, she noticed a little notebook along with a pretty pencil. It had a pretty design. It had a pink sky with shiny stars and a half moon. She grabbed it and approached the female.

“I want this one for free.”

“Okay~!!”

Human things weren’t that expensive, at least, _they were cheaper in this world_ , thought the girl. So, when they were about exit the place, the creature stopped them.

“Wait!! You want to go home, right? It may take a while, even if you take a safe route.”

Nega-Mogeko couldn’t deny that fact. It was easy coming to one place; the problem was getting back at the castle.

“I can help you!! Here!” She showed them the black door that was in the corner of the shop. “You can go wherever you want!”

“Re-Really?” Yonaka was a little surprised. “I thought only Mogekos had that kind of teleporting things…” she mumbled at her protector.

“Many creatures use them, they’re handy.” He shrugged. “Normally, this kind of teleportation ain’t free, so what’s the cash?”

“Oh, none!! I swear!! It’s just, I felt so bad for scaring you… so you can go through the door for free!! As long as you come back and keep buying my things!!”

“U-Um… sure, I don’t mind… there’re very handful things you have, so…”

“Aww, I’m so happy!! What’s your name, human girl?”

“I’m… Yonaka.”

“Yonaka!!” repeated with glee. “Can I say it’s a pretty name for a pretty girl like you? Eek!! I already said it!! I’m sorry!!” Yonaka giggled.

“It’s fine, I really… don’t mind, it was just surprising.”

“You sure? I swear everything I say it’s for good nature!!”

“I know, thank you. What’s your name?”

“I’m Hoshizora!! Pleased to meet you!! Do you have a name, Mogeko?”

“Nega is fine.”

“Okay~It was nice meeting you!! I like befriending all my customers, so don’t feel weirded out by me!! Hee, hee!! Please come back soooooon~!!”

They said goodbye one more time before entering the door, and they were engulfed in light. When Yonaka opened her eyes, they were in front of the castle once again, a little far from the entrance.

“Well, that turned out better than I thought.” Muttered the guardian.

“Did you think she was going to attack us?”

“Not really, but not all creatures are friendly.”

“Oh.”

A breeze caught them by surprise and they suppressed a shiver. Yonaka stared at the Mogeko for a while, then she kneeled down in front of him.

“What?” he asked.

Without saying anything, she took off the scarf around her neck and wrapped it around him.

“You looked like you were cold, and I’m warm enough.”

“I can support this weather.”

“But you can support it better with it on.” She smiled at him before standing up. “Come on.”

Humans were definitely strange.

Before going to the kitchen, she went to Somewhat Strange Mogeko’s room to drop some sweets and candies for the next tea party. The first guardian thanked her and noticed the scarf in the seventh special Mogeko. He smirked at him.

“You cold?”

“Shuddup.”

“Oh, I think I won’t be able to come to your tea tonight, please the rest I’m sorry for that.”

“Why? Aren’t you feeling okay?”

“… Umm, I haven’t slept so well last night, so… I think I’ll pass.”

“Oh, sure. Then, I hope you sleep better. You can use the kitchen if you want, the Mogekos already ate. You can cook in peace.”

“Okay!”

At first, she was planning on having lunch alone, but Nega handn’t had lunch himself because he wanted to buy things for her, so she decided to invite him to join her. During their way to the kitchen, they found Mogekov Hashasky.

“Ohh! Hi, miss Yonaka! Hi, Mr. Nega!”

“Nega is fine.”

“Hello, Mr. General.”

“How are you doing? I heard they didn’t see you at lunch.”

“There’re some things I wanted and…” she glanced briefly at the green Mogeko. “Nega-Mogeko offered to buy me some…” she stumbled her words. It felt weird calling him by his real name. “You want to join us?”

“Yes!! I hadn’t eaten yet!”

Nega-Mogeko took his distance from here. He offered to help the human girl to cook and everything, but they didn’t talk much, and she didn’t insist either. She tried to distract herself by talking to the General, who bashfully didn’t want to ruin the girl’s cooking so he backed off at her offering to help. Nega watched silently all her movements, the way her braids moved here and there every time she would reach other ingredients, a smile would form in her lips when the Hashasky talked to her. And, when the silence would surround them for a few seconds, he noticed something deep and dark in her eyes.

He wondered if this girl was broken, and was trying to get her pieces together. And something about that fact bothered him deeply. He wasn’t sure why, was it because he wasn’t used to bond with this creature? But then, he barely knew himself and his own kind, so he discarded that option.

It _had_ to be the girl.

There was something about her he couldn’t figure out. It was obvious she knew him before whatever happened to him, and he honestly wouldn’t push her to tell him what she knew. What unsettled him was the weird tension around them.

Was she sad because of him? What was she exactly waiting for him to do?

* * *

**_Hey Yonaka hey Yonaka!!!!_ **

**_What should we play today!!!!_ **

She moved constantly in her bed.

 _Please_ …!

**_You get to sleep happy…_ **

**_And I get to PLAY with you!!_ **

She sobbed in her sleep.

A scary big eye was staring at her, devouring her, and she wanted to get away, but she couldn’t. The eye would gleam evilly and would laugh at her failed attempts to run.

**_C’mon!! Let’s play!! With Moge-tan!!_ **

_No…!_

**_FORRREEEVVVEEERRR!!!!!!!!!_ **

“NOOO!!!!”

Her throat felt parched at the scream. She winced at feeling the sore sensation burning her insides. Then, she couldn’t stop the sob that escaped from her lips. Sha hated it! She hated these nightmares, she hated being here, but at the same time, she wanted and needed to be here. She never felt safe, even when the guardians were escorting her, she always felt the other Mogekos’ stare, almost devouring her with their eyes.

She had to stop this. She knew she had to wear a façade that showed she wasn’t afraid of them, but she just couldn’t do it. Those hallucinations that Lord Prosciutto put her through were _so_ real. Her body was fine, it was, apart from the few scratches she suffered during the battle, but… in her mind… she felt dirty, hurt, and _raped_.

She got out of bed and walked towards the robe to put the coat she wore in the afternoon. She needed to get out of here. Suddenly, she felt claustrophobic in here, and she needed some fresh air. She opened almost violently the door and stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed a Mogeko who quickly retreated to avoid being smashed with the door. It took her a few seconds to recognie him.

“… Wh-What are you doing here?”

“I was going to my own, floor, but then I heard you screaming, I wanted to make sure you were safe.” Answered the green Mogeko almost monotonously.

“… What time is it?”

“… Past… four? I don’t know.”

Ah, maybe he was coming from Somewhat Strange Mogeko’s tea party.

“I think you put some of that coffee thing in the basket you gave him, they’re acting weird, so I got out.”

Yonaka blinked. Oh, dear. Did they turn crazy or something?

“Don’t worry about them, they’re just a little… hyperactive.”

“… O-Okay…”

“What about you, missy? You okay?”

Her breath seemed to regulate when she heard him calling her that. She wiped the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes and shakily nodded.

“I just… have nightmares sometimes. They’re really scary… I’m sorry.”

“… do you have them often? It’s not the first time.”

Of course, it wasn’t. She knew that _everyone_ could hear her those nights screaming her lungs out. She blushed.

“I’m sorry…”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I don’t want to trouble anyone…”

“For all I know, we’re the ones troubling you.”

She froze at that statement. She stared at him for a few seconds. Did he _know_ what he was talking about or…?

“I’ve noticed the way you act around Mogekos, you seem fine when _we_ ’re around you, but when there’re more Mogekos, you seem… scared?” By her expression, Nega-Mogeko decided he pushed her too hard. “My apologies, missy. I didn’t mean to disrespect you.”

“No… you didn’t. It’s just… I didn’t want it to be… _so obvious_.”

She seemed horrified by his observation. Was it something bad?

“… Why are you here?” asked without thinking, and she stared at him in shock.

“… What?”

Why was she here? It was obvious the girl was uncomfortable in this castle, and yet she was still here. Nega couldn’t understand her intentions, she didn’t seem like a dictator or a tyrant… ruling the castle wasn’t her interest.

“What are you doing here? I don’t think this is the place you want to be. What are you looking for, missy?”

Yonaka bit her lip. He had to remember, but by his own, she couldn’t tell him. But she wanted him to know. What could she say, what could work…?

_…But you can befriend him, and share your feelings with him without telling him anything._

_You can do that…_

She shyly squinted her eyes, staring at him.

“Can you… stay here with me a little?” she vaguely moved so she could let him in.

“… Are you sure?”

“Yes. I… I need someone to talk to.” Confessed with a little smile. “… as a friend? Can you do that?”

“Is that what you want?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I can, missy.”

She nodded and retreated to let him in. She dropped her coat and came back to her bad. She curled into a ball while the guardian sat in the chair near her bed, then looked at her. Her dark gray eyes stared back.

 _Her eyes… looked so familiar for some reason_ …

“I’ve got nowhere to go.” She started.

“What about your world?” She shook her head, or tried since she was laying down.

“I don’t have any family left.”

“… are you sad because of it?”

“… Yes? No? I don’t know. They never cared about me, and I didn’t care about them. There was someone who did, though. And I cared about that person too… But… something happened, and that person threatened my life, so… I…”

 _Ah_. He understood.

“I think I know what you mean. You don’t have to say it.”

“Mm… At first, I thought I could save him, but… it was too late, I guess… I ran from him so long, until it was too late… it was him… or me.”

“But your friends took me in, I can stay here… until I’m ready to move on from everything. However… there’re times when I feel lonely.” Whispered. “I know they mean well, but…”

“That’s why you said that, you needed a friend.”

“Yes.” Her eyes filled with new tears.

This girl…

“Why did you choose me?”

The only answer he got was a timid smile from her along with the faint blush tainting her cheeks. Her eyes shone through the tears, and he felt his own heart clenching at the sight.

Who was this girl?

More importantly, who was she _to him_?


	7. Crystal clear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Among this bloody mess... everything made sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG!! I was busy studying for my tests and exams and I was DYING. But I'm back!! Hope you guys like it!!

_“Haa… I… I can’t keep running anymore…!”_

_“Keep going! You can do it!!” he decelerated to look at her. “C’mon, missy!! Don’t give up!”_

_She nodded and tried to keep up with him. He couldn’t see her face._

_Suddenly, he felt a burning pain shooting straight from the back, going the bullet through his chest. Since he had a smaller body than her, him losing a determined amount of blood could cost his life. He had to stop running and kneeled down._

_“… M… Mr. Defect Mogeko!!”_

_He was bleeding out, this wasn’t good. He heard her kneeling down beside him when they heard a laugh behind them._

_He still couldn’t see her face._

_“Mwahaha… What a fool.”_

_He stared a few seconds the shaking hands of the girl_ ; the human girl _, then turned to face him. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t see her face._

_“It’s futile.” He tensed. “Don’t you understand?... It’s impossible to run from me.”_

_As much as he wanted to contradict him, he had him there. No matter where he went, o what he did, this Mogeko… this…_

_Who was he, again?_

_Yes, they were running from him, but why? It was like reliving this moment, but it didn’t make any sense to him. They were… running? From what? They almost acted like criminals. He couldn’t understand the next words, nor the actions he decided to do towards their adversary, his mind was a fuzz, and the last thing he felt was the girl’s arms around him while she ran away._

* * *

He opened his eyes, or tried. At least, he knew he was awake.

Yonaka was tightly hugging him to her chest, and he didn’t comply, he didn’t even need the blankets since her body warmth was enough to him. Although, Nega never hugged her; never touched her unless she told him to. After all, she was the great monarch of this castle, and he’d never disrespect her. Since she was the ruler, he did everything she wanted.

Since that talk they had a week ago, Yonaka started to open up to him, about her emotions and nightmares. She never detailed much about them, but it was enough for him to let her be honest with him and herself. The first time she asked him to sleep with her, he didn’t even have time to process her command when she, flustered, asked just to stay with her in her room, nothing else.

Nega-Mogeko didn’t mind, really.

He had noticed since the beginning he wasn’t like the others Mogekos. He kind of had some things in common with the special Mogekos, but with the rest? He honestly thought they were a bunch of horny idiots. He wondered why he was that different. Maybe it had something to do with his past. Oh well, it wasn’t important right now.

And about those lost memories…

The other reason he decided to stick around Yonaka was that he would have sometimes these weird flashbacks in his mind, he wouldn’t see clearly what he was remembering, but it was something. And most of them had something to do with… her? It was a possibility. Putting aside all the clothes that Prosciutto Fairy did for her, there was a high school uniform that seemed familiar in his dreams. It _had_ to be Yonaka in those dreams.

Finally, he stared up and found her dark gray eyes looking at him curiously.

“How long have you been awake?”

“… For a while. I don’t know.”

“I see.” She gently let go of him and got up. “You really don’t mind…? Staying here, I mean…”

“You don’t have to worry about that, my room won’t go anywhere, and it’s not like I use it like the others do. I just have to check the floor, so it’s fine, _missy_.”

He looked that small, yet genuine smile in her rosy face.

He wasn’t sure why, but every time he called her that, she’d look _so happy_. Her eyes would shine and her cheeks would redden. It was the typical cute view from a beautiful girl. Kind of cliché, and he wouldn’t say anything if they asked him. But, deep inside, he treasured that smile that was only for him.

“I’m going now. Are you gonna be okay?”

“Yes, I have an appointment with Mr. Moffuru now.”

“Alright then, I’ll see you later.”

When the green Mogeko left, Yonaka let out a long sigh.

She was happy she finally reached him, in a kind of weird way. He still was the same even when he didn’t remember anything. Getting to know him better was really a blessing, and she could talk about her feelings freely.

Since that had nothing to do with his life and her staying here, she decided to tell him about Shinya.

She told him, like a fairytale story, how she started to fall in love with her own brother, then she didn’t understand how he changed so abruptly… how his mind broke like that, and finally, she told him she killed him.

Geez, that was three days ago.

Letting out those feelings she never shared with anyone was a huge relief. Yonaka remembered Nega-Mogeko listening to her without interrupting her, but when she started to cry, he tried to comfort her.

_I don’t know how you humans deal with this_

_But I can assure you’re not bad, you tried to survive_

_If you want to amend that, then keep on living and be better_

Yes, she would live. She’d definitely would, she promised to herself and for the people who saved her.

She really appreciated Nega-Mogeko’s comfort, and even more when she stopped having those nightmares since they started sleeping together. But… she sensed something was bothering him. Was it her fault? Was she making him uncomfortable?

With those questions in mind, she went to see Moffuru.

“You think you’re bothering him?”

“Mm… I don’t know if I’m being a nuisance to him.”

“Hoo, hoo! I doubt it, miss Yonaka. Out of medical parameters, I’d say you’d never be a nuisance to him. He seems comfortable around you.” He cleared his throat and turned serious once again. “How about you strengthen that tie you have with him the same way you started to get close to him?”

She blinked.

“Eh?”

“I mean, you wanted a friend, a confident in him. You can play that role as well. If something’s bothering him, tell him you want to be there for him too. I swear, Nega always worries for everyone but himself… Ack! I got out of character again! Damn it! It’s harder than I thought!”

Yonaka didn’t mind, she kept on reflexing what the guardian of the fifth floor told her.

He was right.

Before all this, he didn’t even care if he would be free from the chains or of the castle when they met, he just wanted her to escape. He wanted to save Hasu, even when he was dying. He always put her safety as first priority.

She softened her gaze, and Moffuru noticed it.

“What is it?”

“… He’s… so noble.”

“Mm?”

“It’s just… everything he does… it’s for other people. He deserves to be happy too.”

 _That’s why you’re here, miss_ … thought Moffuru smiling.

“And so do you, miss.”

* * *

Moge-ko _hated_ this.

She hated everything… this was those stupid special Mogeko’s fault.

At last, she had found a being just as cruel as her. Lord Prosciutto was _everything_ to her. They were so alike, and the fact that they were possessing a cute high school girl was even better. She thought she could have lots of fun torturing together those stupid disgusting Mogekos.

She wasn’t stupid.

They created her as a sex toy, she was sure of it, but she was smarter. She wasn’t as forgiving as that idiot mogeko. She always knew he had a power she didn’t have, and that was why she let him live; she needed to know what he was hiding, but Yonaka killed him, and let herself be possessed by Lord Prosciutto.

She growled under her breath, feeling the chains in her wrists and ankles.

She wasn’t naïve, she recognized a cruel being when she sniffed one. Lord Prosciutto blabbed about Mogekos deserving be happy as long as they believed in the deity. She had to admit that was a good game. Those cowards respecting them all the time as long as they didn’t piss them off, that was a good show to watch. And even when the deity humiliated her by barely acknowledging her, or when they suddenly sat on her as if she were some kind of throne, or the cynical smirk on the girl’s face…

But all those things, surprisingly, didn’t bother her. They made him horribly _horny_.

A being as cruel and collected as Lord Prosciutto was something she never thought she could find. So she loved when they would treat her as some kind of pet. She loved them being in a young girl’s body, she could had tasted her if they let her, combining those things she adored so much in one being.

But everything was ruined.

She didn’t know what happened, but the knew the deity was gone.

And she hated them all for doing that.

Lord Prosciutto was the best thing happening in this castle… and yet, those bastards made them leave.

But she would get revenge.

She smirked as she noticed that the Hashaskys switched turns on guarding her, but there was a period when only Mogekos were around her cell. She knew, because, even fearing her, they knew she was cute and she could snap her fingers and bend them on their knees.

Now it was one of those times.

Hiding the evil smirk, she squinted her eyes as she noticed the one yellow creature glancing the inside of her cell. She suggestively opened her legs, letting him stare at her underwear as the creature gasped and tried to pry the door open.

Her red eyes glowed.

 _Mogekos are so stupid_!

* * *

Moge-kov sensed something was wrong, and she wasn’t the only one.

While she was heading down to the third floor, where most cells were, she encountered Nega-Mogeko coming at the same direction as her. He had a sword with him.

“… What?”

“I smelled blood.”

Moge-kov squinted her eyes. So, that vague iron smell was indeed blood. She took her own weapon and both of them sped up to the floor, but they abruptly stopped as they heard a great roar coming even more far down below the third floor. For some reason, the green Mogeko found that sound awfully familiar. This wasn’t good at all, he knew there was a prisoner there, a female Mogeko, but he wasn’t sure who she was exactly. Moge-kov did though, and she briefly told him once that she was dangerous, so it was better to keep her locked.

… But, that didn’t turn out well.

“She’s free. And she called her pet, huh.” Muttered the platinum blond.

Nega wasn’t going to question her, not when they heard a loud tantrum at the first floor.

He instantly remembered the human girl in the fifth floor. Should he go after her to keep her safe? Should he back up Moge-kov?... This female could need him more than Yonaka did, after all, she was with Moffuru. She would be okay.

“I can take care of this, you can go.” Said the girl.

But Nega already decided.

“I’m not letting you have all the fun.”

She glanced at him, and let herself smirk a little.

During the way to the first floor, they found some Mogekos and Hashaskys torn apart. They couldn’t tell if it was because of Moge-ko or the big monster. However, both were going to pay.

“Ready?”

“Yeah.”

* * *

Prosciutto Fairy was dragging a bleeding Somewhat Strange Mogeko flying while Blood Spirit ran with his own two feet. The monster was chasing them while Moge-ko was maniacally cackling while slaughtering Mogekos. The Hashaskys could keep a good fight with her, even shaking in fear, but she was stronger than all of them.

“H-How the fuck did she escape?!”

“I think I’ve got a pretty good idea how, but saying it out loud that would embarrass our species once again…” grumbled the first guardian. Moge-ko almost cut his head off. He had a deep cut in his shoulder because of it.

“Where’s miss Yonaka?”

“She was in the hospital last time I checked, I hope she’s still there with Moffuru.” Informed Blood Spirit. “And I get the feeling that Moge-ko wants her.”

“Then Moffuru should keep her in the hospital.”

“I don’t think that’s something Moffuru can control.” Muttered the first guardian.

“What do you mean?”

“Miss Yonaka wouldn’t let Nega fight without fearing the worst. Besides, we’re talking about Moge-ko, we don’t know if he can take her.”

“But he’s with Moge-kov! They can do it, right?”

They heard a loud noise coming behind them. They stopped and turned.

Nega was glancing at the monster frowning. He was a holding a rocket launcher in his right. For some reason, the green Mogeko felt a weird… how did they call it? _Déjà vu_? He had seen this monster before, he was sure. And that freaky female Mogeko that was fighting against Moge-kov… Where…

Where had he seen her?

Well, for all he knew, if this monster wasn’t near Moge-ko, she wouldn’t use that weird shield. So, he pointed at the yellow creature without hesitating.

“Go to _her._ Find her and protect her.” Ordered the seventh guardian to the others who were watching him.

“B-But…” wanted to protest the fairy.

“What are you waiting for? GO!!” barked once again the order at them.

* * *

She had always been considered a coward.

When her parents got angry at her, she wouldn’t say anything, even if they were being unfair to her. Shinya used to comfort her, but lectured her as well to be firmer on her own, but she was shy and quiet. She didn’t like conflict, not even in school. Some guys would pick on her or would touch her without her permission. And of course, there was her brother as well. Shinya wanted to kill her, and she didn’t have the courage to confront him until it was too late.

And she ended up in this castle.

She kept running away, like a crybaby, from the Mogekos, from Moge-ko… from the king.

She couldn’t even be brave enough to stop Defect Mogeko from parting from this world just to protect her. Because of her own weakness, she lost her mind and an evil deity possessed her. Everything was all on her.

… But not anymore.

“Miss Yonaka, don’t!!”

When she got notified of what was happening in the castle, she ran. Not because she was scared of dying, but of fear of losing _it_ again. She couldn’t lose her sanity again. She knew that Nega-Mogeko would fight. And she couldn’t bring herself to hide again while he was fighting for her; to protect her and only her. So she ran with all her force to the first floor. She caught some bloody corpses during the way, but she wouldn’t get back again. She wanted to make sure he would be safe.

She lost him not once, but twice! Third was a final, and she was so done with losing people.

It was enough.

Where was he…?

“Well, look who’s here~”

Yonaka tensed and turned to face Moge-ko, who was wearing a very fake cute little smile in her face. She _almost_ looked adorable.

“… Moge-ko…”

The blonde pouted.

“I preferred your voice when it was Lord Prosciutto who talked.” Purred as she kept approaching her. “Well, I made one of these cowards talk…” she referred to one of the corpses, and the girl tried not to look at the mess. “And, for all I know, you must lose yourself to bring Lord Prosciutto back.” Giggled the female. “So, where do I start? Should I make them rape you first? Should _I_ rape you? Since you’re friends with those stupid guardians, should I kill them before you so you could snap?” She squinted her eyes, remembering something crucial. “Should I rip that green pest apart before you?”

Moge-ko saw her tensing at her last sentence and her eyes turned red.

“I see…”

“No…!”

Before she could stop her, Moge-ko jumped towards her and hooked her neck with her arm, almost making her lose her balance, but the female was strong, and held her so she could balance herself. Her grip was strong and it was choking her a little.

“Let’s see… where could he be…?”

Yonaka tried to free herself, but it was useless. So she let herself fall to the ground as dead weight, pissing Moge-ko off.

“ **AAGH!! C’mon! GET UP!!** ” She kicked her side, but she refused to move. “ **GET UP!! IF YOU DON’T, I’LL BRING HIS HEAD TO YOU!!** ”

She prayed for someone to save her, although that frustrated her to no end, since she still felt like a weak damsel in distress, it was true that, as long as she didn’t have any training, her strength wouldn’t do much.

“AAH!”

Yonaka raised her head and saw Moge-kov hitting Moge-ko with the side of the sword, hard. It cut a little of the female Mogeko’s hair, in the nape zone. Yonaka moved to get up and got away from the crazy Mogeko.

“You… YOU!! **AAAHHH!!** ” she roared at the female Hashasky.

“Wow, I can’t believe so little time locked up made you this stupid.” Smirked Moge-kov, then glanced at the human. “Go.”

“B-But…”

“ _He_ ’s okay. Now do me a favor and join the General, he’s in the entrance.” She ordered her.

Yonaka knew she was referring to Nega-Mogeko when she said he was “okay”. Pressing her lips together, she nodded and ran to the way she was indicated.

“Miss!!”

“Miss Yonaka!!”

During the way, she found the guardians of the castle, and she felt that her breathing got a little easier.

“… Are you guys okay?” they nodded as they kept their pace until they reached the General. “Mr. General!!”

“Oh, miss! You’re okay!! That’s great!!” they flinched when they noticed the Hashasky almost bathed in blood.

“… Uh, are you alive?” asked the fairy.

“Uh? Oh! The blood’s not mine. I was near the monster, and when Nega shot him, it was disgusting, I got his guts all over me.”

“Where’s Nega now?” asked Yonaka.

“I don’t know… He said he was going to help Moge-kov… is she okay?”

“She is, don’t worry.”

He sighed.

“G-Good…”

“ **GIVE THEM TO ME!!”**

They flinched when they heard Moge-ko’s voice. Suddenly, they saw Moge-kov being thrown against them, and she crashed against Yonaka and the General.

“Moge-kov!!”

Yonaka immediately noticed the blood. There was a large wound in her chest.

“Let me through!!”

When they heard that voice, everyone let out a sigh of relief. Moffuru would know what to do. He came at the right time.

“Oh dear…” muttered. “I need something to stop the bleeding.”

“Here, use my cardigan.” Offered Yonaka, taking off her piece of cloth.

“Thank you, miss. Blood Spirit, you know how to handle the flow of blood, help me to stop the bleeding.”

“Right.”

“Oh no… Oh no!! Moge-kov!!” sobbed the General. The female was grunting in pain, but refused to show any more weakness, so she griped her General’s hand firmly.

“I’ll be okay, she just took me… by surprise…”

“ **Prosciutto** … **Prosciutto** …”

They saw Moge-ko approaching them with a sick smile, this one widened at seeing Yonaka, who flinched.

“ ** _Aahhh_ ~ there you are, my Lord**!”

“Crap…” muttered the fairy.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko frowned, but tried to keep calmed.

“ **Come with me… and let’s rule together** …” she raised her hand. “ **That way, we can punish these traitors and burn them in the cross… just like we did with all Mogekos… just like I could’ve done with that sick _priest._** ”

The guardians froze. Moffuru and Blood Spirit stopped moving for a moment.

“… Is she… talking about Hasu?”

Yonaka gulped. She still remembered Defect Mogeko’s pained expression when he saw his friend dying in front of him.

“ ** _Aah_ , that was his name? I couldn’t care less… he was such a whiny… still, he preferred this instead of seeing one of you getting hurt**.” She let out a hysteric laugh. “ **Can you believe that?! It was hilarious!! He preferred DEATH in exchange of leaving all of you alone! Too bad! He’s dead anyway, so I don’t have to promise him anything!! He’s trash just like all of you!!** ”

Prosciutto Fairy’s eyes filled with angry tears. Hasu was the best of all of them! He was such a good friend! He loved all Mogekos and tried to made them see the mistakes Nega-Mogeko had noticed that time, but…

“… You killed him because he was trying to do the right thing!!” accused Somewhat Strange Mogeko, voicing all the special Mogekos’ thoughts. Yonaka never heard the first guardian so furious before. “That’s why mogeko didn’t do anything when you captured him as your toy!!”

“ **Why would he do anything!! NO ONE CAN GO AGAISNT CUTE AND LOVELY MOGE-KO!!** ” barked the female. “ **I’M GOING TO CRUCIFY AND BURN ALL OF YOU!! You’ll see…!! Now, GIVE ME LORD PROSCIUTTO BAAAAACK!!!!** ”

Prosciutto Fairy, gaining all the courage possible, stumbled towards her and shouted.

“… F-FUCK YOU!!”

“I see… then I’ll have to dismember all of you and burn your remains…” she pointed her knife towards them. “Who wants to go first…?”

Somewhat Strange Mogeko noticed a small shadow coming behind Moge-ko.

“… How about you first?”

Suddenly, a slashing sound was heard, and Moge-ko’s head fell to the ground, along with her headless body.

Blood spilled everywhere.

The creatures stared in shock at a very bloodied Nega-Mogeko staring down at the corpse with a cold expression, his grip in the katana was still firm, as if the body would move any time soon.

“… Now I remember why…” muttered under his breath, but Somewhat Strange Mogeko heard him, so he walked towards him.

“Nega? Did you…?”

Honestly, Nega-Mogeko’s head was an absolute mess. When he was getting near Moge-ko, the green Mogeko heard her all thos things about killing his comrades, how she made fun of _someone_ he never heard since he woke up in the hospital, but his soul knew that creature.

Crucifying and burning them to death… torturing his best friend… all those words from Moge-ko’s mouth abruptly made sense in his mind, and everything came back.

Him as a simple guardian.

Then, as a traitor and a prisoner.

And… and…

There was blood, a burning sensation, but it didn’t hurt… his body was so broken that the flames didn’t even hurt him. He was numb _when he died_.

Yonaka paled when he looked at her beautiful dark gray eyes.

“Yeah, I remember.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew... I honestly was going to keep Moge-ko captive, but then I thought, this girl is a fierce crazy beast, I doubt she'd stay there very long before snapping... so I changed my mind!! Well, but she got on Nega's wrong side, so... oops...  
> Leave a comment if you want! they're free~


	8. Your own path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knew where they had to go; they had their homes, their purposes, their aspirations. She didn't, so, right now, she would build her own path with her own strength.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Sorry for the late update. It took a while to write this.  
> You could say this is KIND OF the last chapter (CALM DOWN, KEEP READING, DON'T KILL ME YET!!), but I'll add an epilogue in a few weeks. Soon, you'll understand why it needs and epilogue. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it!

_“It’s so weird what Blood Spirit said.”_

_Hasu stopped reading and stared at his best friend. Nega was staring at the white cross in the room, deep in thoughts._

_“What?”_

_“Loving someone, I mean. It’s… unheard in here.”_

_“Unheard? What do you mean? We Mogekos love tons of things!” he spread his arms wide, and Nega-Mogeko just stared at him. “… We love our Lord! Prosciutto, sushi…!”_

_“That’s the thing, Hasu.”_

_“Uh?”_

_“Mogekos love things. We don’t love beings.”_

_The guardian of the fourth floor looked shocked at his words, then his widened his eyes at the realization of that fact. Nega swore he looked paler._

_“… Yes… Yes, you’re right.” He started walking around the room._

_“What’s wrong?”_

_“That’s the thing… that’s why we…!” he mumbled, completely troubled._

_“You’re spacing out, and it’s annoying.”_

_“You were right all along…!” he finally looked at him. “You noticed it first… that there’s something wrong with the king and the way he does his commands. We… we don’t love people!”_

_“What’s so important about it? I just pointed the facts.” He shrugged._

_“That’s the important missing fact, Nega!” he grabbed him by the shoulder, surprising him a little. “The king is unable to feel sympathy for anyone because he can’t love! He a-a-abuses girls and toss them like trash when they turn boring for him! He doesn’t even respect us as guardians. As long as we obey, things are okay for him! But then… why is it that Blood Spirit could fall in love with someone and we didn’t?” he wondered to himself._

_“Does it matter if it’s romantic?” Nega asked. “It should be important as long it’s caring for someone, right?”_

_The fourth guardian stared at him, then he smiled._

_“I know what to do. I’ll spread even more my faith for the Lord! And I’ll pray them for us to be forgiven! I’ll start to teach the new Mogekos about feelings! How does that sound!! Marvelous!”_

_Nega doubted it would be that easy. One thing was teaching, and the other was suppressing what they had already in their veins. Mogekos instinctively craved for sex and hunger most of the time. Would it really work?_

_“Trust me, my friend! I’ll make the world a better place!” he laughed and patted his shoulder. “But you’re very clever, Nega. Maybe someday you’ll be able to feel romantic love too!”_

_“I highly doubt it.”_

_Naturally, Mogekos would feel attraction for human girls, but then, only mogeko had fun with them, then he would toss her to their subjects, and they would play with her until she died, and Nega would burn her corpse as if she never existed. That was how it worked. Always. How was it possible for him to fall in love with someone? He didn’t feel attraction towards Mogekos nor with freaking corpses. The only way to meet someone would be going out of the palace. But he didn’t think mogeko would let him out._

_“C’mon! Have some faith! Oh, I know! I’ll pray for the Lord for you to get someone…!”_

_“Ugh, please, don’t…”_

* * *

Somewhat Strange Mogeko read once that, if one threw salt in a place where the evil was spreading, this evilness would go away. So, to humor him, the special Mogekos decided to put a plate full of salt in front of the rest of special Mogekos’ graves and prayed to ask for it to be purified. When this was done, Prosciutto Fairy spread all the white powder in Moge-ko’s room after burning it all. They wanted to erase all traces of the crazy female Mogeko and Lord Prosciutto as soon as possible. Even if Mogekos weren’t totally agreeing with the guardians’ terms, that was a problem they wouldn’t solve immediately.

“So, what will happen with this place?”

“I don’t know… it would be ironic if it were a church, don’tcha think?” joked Prosciutto Fairy.

“Actually, that’s a very good idea.” Said the first guardian. “Think about it. We place a church in this floor, in Moge-ko’s room, to appease Hasu’s soul. It’s so poetic.”

“Poetic, he says…” muttered the fairy.

“I don’t mind.” Said Nega Mogeko.

“Me neither. It’s great.” Said Blood Spirit.

“I’m with you.” Agreed Moffuru, who stood right the green Mogeko. “By the way, I went to her room to check on her.” The seventh guardian stared at him. “For… you know… just to check if everything is okay.”

“… And…?”

“She’s fine… she just… she doesn’t want to get out of her room. My best guess she’s scared to confront you.”

“Mm.”

“Won’t you see her?”

“What for? It’ll only make things worse for us. If she wants to see me, then I’ll make that happen. But right now, she needs her own space, and I respect that.”

Moffuru nodded, he was expecting this kind of answer from him, honestly. He was glad Nega was so noble when it came to others’ feelings, especially if it was about Yonaka’s. Since Moge-ko’s incident, Yonaka hid in her room, unable to face the green Mogeko in that moment. She talked with Moffuru about it, and she voiced her worries and insecurities, arguing with herself why she couldn’t just do it. The white Mogeko explained it to her; since her mind was, not long ago, in such a frail state and one source of it was coming back right at her, it was a little difficult for her to face such a fear. He knew that losing Nega was traumatizing enough for the girl, and even more when his body was used to save her from the evil deity. That was why no one was bothering her, giving her the space and time to come into terms with her mind and feelings.

For the most part, it was easy for Nega to wait. At that time, all the guardians surrounded him to ask him the same questions all over again: _Do you remember me? Do you know what happened? Is it really you? What is Mogekos’ most precious thing?_ It was a little annoying, but he understood they were worried about him. Soon, he was filled with the empty details that his mind kept wondering: why was he still alive?

When he went to his room, he sat on his chair and stared at the weapons, now perfectly clean and orderly placed, remembering all the things that happened so far since Yonaka came to this castle.

She changed everything, there was no use in deny that fact. Since she came with that key to free him, he knew she was going to change this palace. He wasn’t going to let her die, and as long as they kept going to look for an exit, he was more worried about her well-being than his. That was obvious, Hasu always told him how good he was at putting people he cared about above himself. However, what he felt for Yonaka wasn’t similar to what he felt towards his brothers, his family. Yonaka seemed so shy and scared at the beginning, but then she started to feel comfortable around him and shared her thoughts with him. Nega thought she was an interesting girl; she was simple and sensitive, but that made her prettier, and he wanted to protect her even more. Even hiding some things from him, he could tell this girl had problems, as any girl had when she came to the castle. But Yonaka was afraid of even _going back_ to her world. He didn’t understand until he was revived for the second time without his memories. When Yonaka shared her story with her big brother, it felt weird. Even with this “amnesia”, he sensed her hiding this fact from everyone, and her telling him caused some impact in him. He never wanted Yonaka to feel that way ever again. So, now that he had all the pieces to complete the puzzle of his memory, it made sense.

He didn’t want Yonaka to feel scared when it came to love someone.

It kind of reminded him of Hasu’s will, but he knew Mogekos were done. Maybe some would want to be taught by curiosity, but he doubted they’d change their ways of doing things when it came to satisfy their desires. There was no way. So, Yonaka wasn’t going to get better if she stayed here.

* * *

There was a knock in her door, and she tensed.

“Miss Yonaka!”

Oh.

She moved from her position in her bed and got up. She walked to her door and opened it. General Hashasky and Moge-kov were standing there, the little one smiling and the other with her same cold-hearted expression.

“How do you feel, Moge-kov?” asked first Yonaka.

“Better.”

“Moffuru did an amazing job healing her. I already thanked them all before…” he trailed off and shrugged with a sad expression. The girl frowned, then looked at the blonde.

“We’re leaving.”

“Eh??” she widened her eyes.

“We’re thankful for your hospitality, but we don’t belong here. We must come back to Russia.”

The general sighed and nodded, agreeing with Moge-kov’s words. He was glad he was in better terms with the special Mogekos, he was able to properly thank them for their rebellion. Together, they brought down the king and Moge-ko. Maybe they could do their own kingdom, but that would take time. Somewhat Strange Mogeko promised he would try to make Mogekos better. Still, he had to take care of his own kingdom. Now that the blonde psycho female Mogeko wasn’t kidnapping his people anymore, they had to go back.

“Yes, it had been such an adventure, but… we have to go home.”

 _Home_.

Yonaka narrowed her eyes. Yes, they did have a place to return to. Unlike her.

“… I see…”

“Don’t be sad!” General Hashasky jumped to grab gently her hands. She blinked. “Remember the seventh floor can take you to the place you want! You can visit us through there! Or it can work in backwards! But right now, we’ll be very busy so…” he laughed nervously.

Yonaka couldn’t help but to smile at the white creature and nodded. Yes, she could come and see them; see how they were doing. That was okay, right? She glanced up and looked at Moge-kov.

“Thank you, for everything.”

“We didn’t do much.”

“You did.” She insisted and dropped her shoulders. “You really did. And I’ll always be grateful for that.”

Moge-kov noticed her melancholic behavior and closer her eyes for a few seconds. Then, the pretty cold-ice like eyes looked right at her gray orbs.

“Then, let me tell you something.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t have to hurry.”

“Huh??” repeated the girl. Moge-kov curved her lips in a tiny grin.

“You can figure out what you want all the time you want.”

Then, grabbing her general by his hand, they turned to leave the girl standing in her door, surprised. The general glanced briefly at the confused expression of the high-school girl, then looked at his protector.

“… That’s all you’ll say?”

“I’m pretty sure she’ll figure it out herself. We shouldn’t meddle, my General.”

“Yes…” he tightened the grip of his hand in hers. “Well… let’s gather the rest and let’s go.” He glanced up to look at her. “Um, you’ll stay with me, right?”

“Always.”

* * *

Nega Mogeko had to admit that he felt kind of bad for the others. They offered him to work in the repairs of the castle while the other special Mogekos cleaned the corpses. He honestly was immune to that at this point, with him already dead and reborn and all that stuff… he really didn’t mind doing his old job, but they insisted to give him “a break”. He still remembered Prosciutto Fairy’s pale face at the thought of burning Mogekos and Hashaskys’ dead bodies. He, for his part, already had ready the destroyed cells that Moge-ko ruined. He went to his room to rest a little, then saw the clock.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko’s tea party was about to start.

He knew already what were they going to talk about: Yonaka, the Hashaskys’ departure, Moge-ko…

He wasn’t in the mood; his mind was still a mess and he had to get used to the weird feelings in his body. He moved a little to glance at his left arm. Beneath his green fur, he could feel it. He moved the fur with his other hand to actually see it; beneath it, there were marks on his skin. Well, not marks, but tattoos. These were Pancetta’s marks that proved his body was condemned to be possessed by her. That was why he resurrected, right? He knew that Yonaka had marks in her own arms as well, though she never showed them to him. He wondered what color were they… could they be a fluorescent white like his? Or was it red like the glow she had once in her eyes when she was possessed? Nega wasn’t sure.

If there was one thing he was worried about and wanted to desperately to discuss with Yonaka was exactly that. According to his brothers’ words, as long as she kept a strong mind and will, they would be okay. They informed him Pancetta would possess him only if Yonaka lost control. He trusted the girl… still, everyone had a weak point, and he wanted to make sure she was doing okay. But Yonaka didn’t want to see him, not now. And he respected that… he did…

He did, but…

Suddenly going to the first guardian’s tea party didn’t sound so bad anymore.

He needed to stop thinking _and feeling_ these things.

He walked out of his room and considered, for a second, going through the big door to go to the first floor. He was sure he wouldn’t bump into the girl, but… something told him he would. And right now, his heart and mind were a mess.

 _This is ridiculous_ …

He shook his head and ignored that weird feeling adverting him. He walked down the stairs and passed without problems her door. He didn’t even hear her, so he guessed she was sleeping. As he kept going down, he reflected on Lord Prosciutto and Pancetta once again.

He really despised this situation.

It was more complicated than being glad he was resurrected.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about this. His body had a purpose, and that was fight against the other being that Prosciutto would possess in a certain future. He didn’t doubt it… and it felt wrong. It just _had_ to be him and Yonaka, right? He hated how those deities took advantages of mortals’ feelings. What they did was indeed cruel. Lord Prosciutto could had easily possessed mogeko. The king was used to be called as the incarnation of Lord Prosciutto. Hell, the one deity confirmed him he had a deal with the former king. He gladly would’ve accepted Pancetta in his body if mogeko were Prosciutto’s container.

But he wasn’t.

Yonaka killed him.

He went through Prosciutto Fairy’s room and the Mogeko larvae he took care of. Once he exited the place, he stopped.

He _loathed_ this.

He hated it.

So much.

He never wanted to hurt that one girl who made him believe in a ray of hope. And he was sure Yonaka didn’t want to hurt him either.

_It’s futile_

He frowned.

_Don’t you understand?_

Hearing mogeko’s voice in his head wasn’t heling the hot turmoil of emotions he was experiencing right now.

_Didn’t I… tell you?_

He grimaced. Those words were… from _that_ moment.

**_It’s all… futile._ **

The joint where his arm and shoulder connected was aching. He grabbed it unconsciously, almost as if his limb was about to fall off if he didn’t keep it right where it was.

Yes. He remembered clearly that sensation. The moment when the king showed his horrific true face and tore his arm off. The shock and pain didn’t let him to keep fighting. He remembered falling on the floor, gasping as his body was burning and screaming in agony. But he didn’t show it. He resembled mogeko’s pleased expression, knowing he was doing his best to not to show him how much he hurt him.

 _Damn, it hurt_.

.

.

.

“… e… e… o…”

Huh?

“…er… e… o… eko…!”

He finally realized his eyes were closed and he… fell asleep? His ear twitched and heard better.

“Mr. Defect Mogeko!!”

Oh.

He was sitting in the last step of the stairs that led to Somewhat Strange Mogeko’s room. When did he get there? Maybe he dozed off _hard_. He raised his gaze and he found Yonaka coming at him.

“Hey, missy.”

She stopped right in front of him and kneeled down to stare at him on eye-level. Her gray eyes studied him in silence, noticing he looked… weird. Was he sick?

“Are you okay?”

“I am, I just got distracted.” He shook his head. “Do you need something?”

She squinted her eyes and pressed her lips.

She had heard him when he crossed her room without nonstop. For a moment, she wanted him to knock her door, but she knew Nega-Mogeko respected her wishes better than anyone. While she was sure he left, she thought about Moge-kov’s words, Moffuru’s advices, Somewhat Strange Mogeko’s encouraging words…

“Uh, I wanted to talk to you, if that’s okay.”

He softened his gaze.

“Of course, missy.”

She smiled timidly at him.

“Uh, it’s okay if we talk outside?”

“I don’t mind.” He honestly didn’t want anyone hearing them talking either.

It changed a little the outside of the castle. There weren’t Mogeko statues anymore. They were annoying and they took too much space in the entrance. So Yonaka found easier to talk to the seventh guardian here. It was a starry night. If she had brought some sweets with her, it would’ve been the perfect night.

They sat beside each other and stared at the sky.

“So… you remember everything?”

“Yeah.”

“… Are you okay?”

Nega wanted to know if she was okay, but he sensed he wouldn’t get a straight answer if he didn’t answer first.

“… I’ll be.” His mind was a wreck, but he didn’t want to get into details. “I’m getting used to this.”

“… Did it hurt?” She honestly didn’t know if she was referring to his deaths, or to the times he was resurrected. Still, he replied with a sigh.

“I can’t lie to you, Yonaka. And the others will tell you anyway. It did.”

She nodded and hugged her knees.

“What about you?”

“Um… I’m getting better.” That wasn’t a lie, she really was starting to think she could get through this. “Mr. Moffuru’s sessions are really helpful… and I’m not scared as long I’m with you guys, so…”

She trailed off.

“… Still… everything feels so… surreal.” She pressed her chin in her knees. “… Even if I wanted to go back… I can’t. How can I…? With everything that happened… There’s no one waiting for me in my world… and I don’t have a home to come back to.” Her grip tightened. “But I think… I don’t belong here either.” She finally confessed.

Yonaka was terrified of his reaction or what he could say. She didn’t expect him to throw a tantrum, but she wasn’t expecting him to be happy either. They just reunited, did they? Was he going to care enough to ask her to stay… or was he going to let her go? Both options terrified her because none of them would make her happy. She had to start to think about herself first. Moffuru told her that; no matter how much she cared about the special Mogekos who welcomed her, she had to live for herself and no one else. At first, she had decided to keep on living for the lives that the Defect Mogeko, Hasu and Mogecukoo had sacrificed for her. And she still believed that, but…

_Miss Yonaka, you have to decide_

_What is it that you want?_

“… I don’t know what I want…”

She gulped.

“But I know I can’t find my purpose here. So, I’m thinking of leaving.”

 _There, she said it_.

Nega-Mogeko wasn’t surprised at all by this turn of events. There was no way Yonaka was going to be happy in a castle full of perverts that once tried to rape her, then became their slaves to pay for what they did to her, to now live in constant fear of what they could do to her if she ever let her guard down. Even if him and the special Mogekos were stronger, Mogekos could multiplicate, and there were tons of them. It wouldn’t be easy to protect them if they tried.

“… I see.”

But he cared _a lot_ about her.

“When will you leave?”

Yonaka stared at him, surprised.

“… I still don’t know… I wanted to tell the others tomorrow… and thank them properly.”

“Mm.” He nodded. “Do you know where you’ll head off to?”

“Uh… I don’t think I can go back to my world. I mean… I… don’t feel _human_ anymore.” Admitted the girl. “So, I was hoping to wander around this world… see if I can find more creatures like… miss Hoshizora of the weird store? I really don’t know.” She giggled a little troubled.

The green Mogeko considered the girl’s options and ideas, then he spoke.

“How about this.” He proposed. “You set a date for departure, but you need to get some useful stuff before leaving.”

“Eh?”

“For starters, you should have something to defend yourself with. That insecticide you once have won’t last forever, so you need a real weapon. Besides, your strength is really good, so you’ll be able to protect yourself in other areas, though there aren’t many hostile creatures farther from here.” He informed her. “You’ll need cash, food and other stuff for a human.” He glanced at her and noticed her staring at him. “… What?”

“… You seem… eager for me to…” she stopped talking. “Um…”

“It’s not what you think.” He crossed his arms. “Even _I_ have never left this castle. We knew from the outside world because of that weirdo and Mogecukoo.”

“… The weirdo is… Mr. Somewhat Strange Mogeko?” He nodded.

“So, in short, you’re the only human in this world for all I know. So you need to take care of yourself.” He looked away from her. “… since I won’t be there to protect you.”

She widened her eyes.

So, he was doing this so she could value herself alone. He was giving her tips to survive in this world because it seemed it was the only thing he could do for her.

“… I see.”

“I can make a weapon for you; one that only you can use.”

“Eh?! I-It’s not nece…”

“It is.” He insisted. “You don’t know what’s out there. So you’ll bring one with you.” He sentenced, not wanting to argue with about that.

Yonaka moved and stared at her hands for a few seconds. Then, she looked back at the guardian.

“… Mr. Defect Mogeko?”

“Mm?”

She felt her chest warm when he didn’t correct her nor he said anything about that nickname. She played with her fingers, feeling her cheeks hot.

“… What will you do?”

“What do you mean?”

She hawked a little.

“… You’re here… alive. And you’re free from the king, Moge-ko’s dead… what will happen now with you?”

Nega-Mogeko knew where she was heading with that question. Deep down, she wanted to know what would happen to them. Since there was something happening between them, but they still couldn’t properly name it… what would happen with that bond they had?

“… It’s true I said I wanted to wander around the world if I even got free, but… now that we’re free from mogeko and Moge-ko, I think I can’t do that to my brothers.”

Yonaka’s chest hurt, but she didn’t interrupt him.

“I want to help them build this project they have, even if it looks like an impossible dream. They want to try it, and I want to be there for them and support them, just like they did even when I was considered a defective. Hasu and Mogecukoo would have wanted that to happen too.”

 _That’s right_ , she thought grimly.

Unlike her, these Mogekos actually looked like a family. When she first came here, it didn’t seem like it. But after the three guardians’ deaths, she could clearly see it. They were all siblings, taking care of each other with their own strength, even if it cost their lives. Yonaka wondered… if she had never fallen in love with Shinya… and if he never had lost his mind… would they have had something like this? Now, she felt a little jealous. Even Nega-Mogeko being a prisoner, he still had a family. And… she still was alone…

 _Be strong_ , she told herself.

“That’s good that you guys support each other.” She felt silly saying this, but she wasn’t sure of what else to say.

“Yonaka.”

The girl flinched then looked at him. She hadn’t noticed she kept staring at her hands.

“Do you plan on coming back here?”

She stared at him.

“Yes, of course. I’ll come back whenever I feel like it.”

He seemed to consider her answer, then he proceeded.

“It may take a while, but I want to propose you something.”

 _Uh_?

“Right now, I need to stay to take care of some things. But when I finish all I planned, if you let me, I’d like to come with you.”

Her eyes widened.

_If I had asked you… that time… to elope with me… what would you’ve said?_

For some reason, she wanted to laugh so hard right now. But the tears that filled her eyes didn’t let her.

“You don’t have to answer right now.”

“… Would you come with me?” she asked, still not believing he actually said that.

_I would’ve said… you were being ridiculous. But… eventually… I would’ve said yes_

“Once I finish these projects, and if you let me, I will.”

“… Okay.” She finally giggled. “Yes.”

“Good.”

Yonaka knew he wasn’t a creature of many words, but she noticed he was happy with her answer.

“… Can I hug you?” she timidly asked him.

He looked surprised, then he let out a huff, blushing.

“You’re asking me if you can hug me _after_ we slept together?”

This time, Yonaka couldn’t help but laugh louder and she just grabbed him to place her in her lap and hug him tightly. She let a few tears fall, but she wasn’t sad at all.

They were happy tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yonaka can't simply heal in a few days. Mental wounds take time to heal and right now she's standing in the middle of nowhere. Literally, she doesn't have a home, friends, nothing. She needs to discover herself so she can decide how her future will be. At least, she knows Nega-Mogeko will support her no matter what, and they cross paths again since they promised that. I'll see you guys in the epilogue!!


	9. As long as it takes...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She wanted to believe she got stronger...  
> So both of them could overcome anything...  
> Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! It took a while, but I'm back! It's finally here! The final episode with some taste of epilogue! I hope you guys like it!

Yonaka hadn’t been in her house since she killed Shinya.

She remembered she left the corpse there, then she walked back and headed back to the castle, as if it would be the only place she’d feel better. Though she had known Defect Mogeko was dead, she wanted something from that castle: revenge. She wanted them to pay, she was able to blind Moge-ko, but then… she didn’t see more.

That was how it started.

Now, she was in that abandoned house, with an old “blocked out” thing stopping her, but she kept walking. This used to be her home, after all. When she came back to the human world, she tried to know how things went after she disappeared. There were many rumors about the Kurai family. One said Shinya killed his family, then killed himself after that so no one would know where his little sister’s corpse was hidden; others thought that it was Yonaka who did the massacre and ran away. The one that actually told the truth was the less talked about: that Shinya killed his parents, but Yonaka, to defend herself, killed her brother and ran away to never come back.

People said that her house was haunted by evil spirits, she wasn’t sure how real was that, since she met yellow cat things that wanted to rape her… yeah, she wasn’t sure what existed anymore.

She opened the door and got inside silently. As expected, it was dusty and dark. It still resembled the last time she was there. She tensed, but didn’t stop walking. She went to her room, staring at it, then at her pictures with her brother, and some with her classmates… she never had real friends. Then, she headed to Shinya’s room. This was the place he first tried to kill her, and it still remained as the place where his brother lost his sanity. Yonaka sensed she’d never know what happened to her brother to break like that.

Finally, she went to the living-dining room, the place she dreaded the most in her dreams. She opened the door and a faint odor of iron filled her nostrils. The remains of her parents weren’t there anymore, nor was her brother’s corpse, but the floor was still dirty with old blood that was never cleaned. There was some old cop’s equipment as well, since they were after she left.

Yes, this was the place where she killed her brother almost two years ago. And yet, it felt like it happened yesterday.

Her dark gray eyes scanned the place, reproducing in her mind what she witnessed and how her nightmares brought her to this place. She thought she’d be scared of being here…

But she felt… sad.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to save you, Shinya.” She whispered. “I love you, but _not_ in that way anymore. I hope your soul is resting in peace.” She pleaded to herself, closing her eyes.

**_I doubt it…_ **

She ignored that dark voice in the back of her mind, and opened them again.

“I have to go back.”

* * *

Yonaka was resting her head against the wall, sitting in one of the last seatings of the wagon. She closed her eyes, feeling a little tired. She knew there were other ways to change worlds, but going through the train brought a nostalgic feeling to her chest, and it made her happy. It was almost midnight, yet it was working, so she was sure she’d get to the castle.

Since she officially left the castle, she had a talk with Hoshizora, the female creature she met while she bought groceries and asked for advice of what places would work for her to explore, and the female with galaxy colors hair gave her like twelve maps to explore and how to teleport without problems. She sold her an old mirror that would teleport her, but it had its disadvantages. The thing needed sunlight to work, so, in the night, it’d work perfectly if the sun bathed it the whole day.

She had a pair of books in her backpack that she wanted to give to Somewhat Strange Mogeko. He liked poetry, and loved it when it was _erotic_ poetry, not because of its lewdness, but to explore how to properly know what exactly love was through the sexual encounter. It was a little weird, but she supposed brilliant minds were weird. So, she was going to give him some poetry collections from America. She had some new candies for Prosciutto Fairy and Blood Spirit too, since they loved them to no end. And she had some hair mousse to Moffuru and his fur, since he loved his white self, he wanted to properly take care of it, and she wanted to give it to him.

And…

She tightened her kusarigama. It was a sickle connected with a kind of weights by a chain. It wasn’t that heavy; the seventh guardian had assured her he did it according to her strength and height to make it.

 _Unlike the knife, it doesn’t instantly kill Mogekos_ , his voice sounded in her mind. _It is designed to make a fatal damage so you can get away quickly, meaning you don’t have to kill anyone if you don’t want to_.

Yonaka was still surprised how well Defect Mogeko seemed to know her; without telling him, he sensed she didn’t want to carry a weapon to kill creatures around. She wanted to heal her mind, and killing creatures wasn’t something she was interested in that much, with Shinya was enough. So she gave her the kusarigama and taught her how to use it during battle. She wasn’t surprised, not really, when she learned Nega-Mogeko was a demanding instructor. She knew he fought almost perfectly, he was the one who made the weapons after all, if he didn’t know how to use them all, what kind of warrior would he be?

**_Hmph_ **

She frowned, still with her eyes closed.

There was a little problem, though.

Lord Prosciutto, whenever they sensed her mind was getting weak, they’d intervene to taint her mind. She easily got them out, but it was still a little disturbing the deity could wander around her thoughts. Yonaka wanted to be able to fight back against Prosciutto because she really didn’t want to fight Nega.

Both of them knew.

Even if their feelings drew them closer, the only thing stopping them was the seal each of them had in their arms. Yonaka had the weird red tattoos that sealed Lord Prosciutto, while Nega, through his green fur, had white seals in his arms. One day, even Yonaka accepted it, they’d have to fight. She knew it would come a time when her mind would snap and Prosciutto would take over her once again, and Defect Mogeko would be possessed by Pancetta and they’d…

She shuddered at the thought.

“Last station! Mogeko! Mogeko!”

She opened her eyes and got up from her seat. She walked out and got a nostalgic feeling at staring at the abandoned station. There weren’t papers about loving prosciutto, peppers, gyozas… instead, there were…

Eh?

_Somewhat Strange Mogeko as president!_

_Vote now!_

“What?!”

She looked around and, indeed, there were campaign posters. Somewhat Strange Mogeko was one of the candidates, while another random Mogeko was the other, though his posters were all scratched with weird drawings. She wondered when the castle became a democratic place, but then again, she remembered Nega telling her he needed to be by his brothers’ side to help them accomplish what they wanted. It was astonishing!

She read some of them and Somewhat Strange Mogeko had the better access, he seemed to know how to sweet talk to Mogekos. There were some notifications about terrorist attacks by mogeko’s followers, who wanted the old monarchy back.

Yonaka thought she shouldn’t feel worried, after all, they had Nega as the best protector. Those terrorists would retreat eventually, or… they’d die.

She headed to the forest, tightening her grip in her kusarigama in case she had an encounter with some terrorist along the way. She stopped for a few seconds when she heard some rustling. She doubted it was one of the special Mogekos, they wouldn’t sneak up like that.

“Isn’t that Yonaka- _tan_?” She tensed when she heard Mogekos’ familiar flirtatious tones.

She turned around and faced four Mogekos staring at her with that familiar lust aura surrounding them. She grimaced a little, but didn’t feel scared like the first time she was here.

“Wow, you got so much prettier!”

“Your breasts look bigger~!”

“Aaahn~! Look at those hips!”

“Don’t want to come join us? We can a really good time together!”

Yonaka squinted her eyes, her expression turning cold all of the sudden, then turned to fully face them, preparing to attack.

“Sure… why not.”

* * *

Moffuru was a little startled when they heard a commotion in the entrance. When he came to the first floor, he was more than shocked when he saw a bloody Yonaka along four Mogekos tied up, sobbing in terror.

“… Well, I call that an epic entrance.” He started. Yonaka noticed him and smiled at him. It was a little creepy seeing her cute expression, but all covered in blood. “Welcome back, miss Yonaka.”

“It’s been a while.”

“You should’ve told us you were visiting. We could’ve picked you up.”

“It’s okay. I wanted it to be a surprise. Besides, I needed to stop in a place first, then here.”

“I see.” He briefly glanced at the terrorists. “… I presumed you were ambushed but it turned out in backwards?”

“You can say that.”

“Well, you can leave that to Blood Spirit, how about you clean yourself and join us for dinner? Your room is available.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. Nega had assured that no one else touches it.”

She couldn’t help but smile hearing that.

“… Where is he, by the way?”

Moffuru stared at her, then sadly smiled.

“I’m afraid he’s not here, miss. Nega went out three days ago to visit the Hashasky Kingdom.”

“Oh…” She let out a half-hearted sigh.

“We don’t know when he’ll be back, but you can stay with us while you wait.”

“Yeah… that sounds great.”

She left the Mogekos tied up in the entrance, while she followed Moffuru to her old room. It was clean, she was told some Mogekos cleaned it twice a week. To her surprise, the Mogekos now behaved well. Some still stole weird glances at her way, but they didn’t say anything vulgar towards her and some greeted respectfully. She headed to the thermal waters to clean herself while Moffuru guarded. It was a little déjà vu, remembering the time she took a bath with Moge-kov when she had to get rid of the blood.

Prosciutto Fairy was thrilled to see her. He hugged her and gave her tons of clothes to wear. This time, they weren’t high school uniforms anymore. This time, she wore a simple pink shirt, some shorts and boots. The underwear was discussed in private, of course, Prosciutto Fairy was respectful enough.

Blood Spirit was less shy than the last time they met. He kindly smiled at her and asked her how her trip was. She found out he was in charge along Nega-Mogeko to take care of the terrorist attacks. Most of the time, it was Nega who took care of them, while Blood Spirit took them to prison.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko didn’t look different, but Yonaka perceived a different aura surrounding him. He looked proud of his work as wanting a democratic place for his people. He started wearing a little black bowtie to look more… formal? She wasn’t sure.

“Ah, miss Yonaka! What an unexpected pleasure! Have a seat.” Said once he entered their old tea party room. Now his room was filled with political books, but it still remained some old erotic literature around. And with Yonaka’s present, there would be more around.

“Thanks… It’s been a while.”

“A while, indeed. When was the last time you visited? Almost six months ago!”

“You look so much better, miss! I’m proud of you.” Said Moffuru while he gave her a cup of tea.

“Thank you… I’m happy of my recovering too. I feel… lighter.” She softened her gaze. “And free.”

“That’s wonderful.”

This wasn’t the first time Yonaka visited the castle after her departing. She only got to visit once, and that was six months ago. She wanted to visit them since she went to Hoshizora’s store and she was nearby. However, she didn’t get to see them much since, at that time, she didn’t know the Special Mogekos were planning a democracy, but she noticed some hostility around the castle. So, Nega-Mogeko and Blood Spirit weren’t around much when she came. It was a little frustrating, since Yonaka wanted to see the green Mogeko the most.

“We’re almost done! Once Mogekos get to vote for this weirdo, we’ll success!” She snapped back to reality when she heard Prosciutto Fairy’s cheery voice.

“Are you sure you’ll win?”

“I’m sure, miss.” Nodded the first guardian. “A lot of old Mogekos died during their protests, and newborns and larvae when born as well, but Prosciutto Fairy raised them well, and taught them how to suppress their lustful instincts.”

“They’re sexually frustrated! And that’s great!” Celebrated the fairy.

“… Umm, but suppression is a little bad a well, right?” Asked Yonaka a little worried. It wasn’t necessarily sexual suppression, but the thing in general. She suppressed her fear of dying in her brother’s hands for so long that she almost lost herself.

“Do not worry, miss.”

“Yeah! I taught them they can masturbate! But in their rooms and not in public spaces, of course.”

“… Ok?”

“And there’re some like Blood Spirit and Nega too!”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“They have relationships with other species! It’s something I’ve never seen before!” Said Somewhat Strange Mogeko while sipping his tea. “Abusing females is not the same that having an emotional bonding. So, when we were told some Mogekos were having feelings for some human females, or animals, or other creatures… it was fascinating!”

“Yeah! I was so happy when even Mogekos of their own sex liked each other! It was awesome!” Cheered the fairy.

Yonaka couldn’t help but smile wider. She remembered that, when she first came to the castle, things like feelings, relationships with feelings, rejecting things as prosciutto… all those things made Mogekos as… _defected_. That was how she met her green Defect Mogeko. She blushed when she noticed the guardians talked so freely about their brother’s feelings for her as something so… obvious. She didn’t even know how exactly her and Nega’s relationship worked. There were… feelings? And she wanted him by her side. She even came here to ask him something important, but…

An insecure part of her still wondered if the Mogeko would agree to be with her. After all, not only he died for her, but twice! She had asked enough, right?

“I sense some discomfort, miss?” asked Moffuru.

“Oh!” She perked up, then avoided their gazes, embarrassed. “It’s nothing.”

“C’mon! We’ve been through so much! You can trust us!” Insisted the fairy. “If it’s about Nega, we know everything!”

“U-Umm…”

“Miss, if you don’t want to say it, that’s fine. But remember you can talk to us too, not only to Moffuru as a counselor.” Invited the future president.

Yonaka considered, and stared at the guardians’ faces. The four seemed eager to help her in whatever turmoil she found herself in her mind.

“Umm… you talk about me and Nega like… umm… you seem to know how our relationship works, but… I don’t.”

“Oh, miss. It’s normal when you find something completely different you’ve found before and don’t know how to exactly name it or place it in your life.” Said Moffuru.

“Exactly. I’m not sure if Nega feels the same way you do, but I can guarantee you that he cares deeply about you, and wants you in his life.”

She blinked.

“We have told you, right?” Intervened Blood Spirit. “Nega never talked about his real feelings to us, what he cared about the most was something he always kept to himself. But, if he did say something about it, it was crucial, and important.”

“It’s the same with you.” Proceed Prosciutto Fairy. “He doesn’t talk much about you, I guess it’s… a mechanism to not to miss you so much? I’m not really sure, but… whenever we mention you, or he talks about you, we just know.”

“… You know… what exactly?”

The four shared a glance to each other, considering what to say. Finally, it was Somewhat Strange Mogeko who talked.

“That he _loves_ you, miss Yonaka.”

Yonaka blinked, then kept silent.

The door suddenly opened, and the girl flinched, as if she was caught doing something wrong. To their surprise, Moge-kov entered alongside General Hashasky.

“Heya…! Oh, miss Yonaka!” Exclaimed the general and ran to hug her.

The girl was a little surprised to see them, but she froze when she noticed a last Mogeko entering the room behind them. Nega Mogeko was just as surprised when they noticed each other’s presence.

“Good afternoon.” Greeted Moge-kov. “We came here to sign the peace between our reigns. Or shoul I say reign and… democratic castle?”

“Something like that, yes.” Accepted the candidate, then looked at his brother. “Welcome back, Nega.”

“Hey, Nega! You’re back!”

“Welcome back!”

He just moved his head as a greeting, then looked at Yonaka, who didn’t waver her stare at him.

“Hey, missy.”

“… Hi.” Then glanced at the Hashaky in her legs. “It’s been a while.” She smiled at him.

“Yeah! I really missed you.”

Yonaka looked at Moge-kov, who wore a small smile just for her, nodding as a greeting.

“You know, we couldn’t find you, but… now that you’re here, I wanted you to know that I’m married!”

She widened her eyes, then looked at Moge-kov.

“R-Really?”

“Yes, though I didn’t assume the title as a queen. I’m still monitoring my troop as the General’s protector. Nothing changed about how we work as a kingdom, except the fact that we’re an official couple.”

The general nodded. Yonaka was pleasantly surprised at this news.

“We wanted you to be in our wedding, but we couldn’t find you, and we didn’t want to intervene in your trip.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m happy for you two. Congratulations.”

“Thanks!”

Somewhat Strange Mogeko prepared more tea for the newcomers. Since there wasn’t much space, Mog-kov grabbed her General and sat him in her lap. That was something a little unexpected, but neither of them seemed bothered by it, as if it was something natural they did. Yonaka found their interaction quite fascinating, and she had a close view sitting next to them. She stole a glance at the green Mogeko, who was reading some papers Somewhat Strange Mogeko gave him. It seemed he was very busy. She wanted to talk to him, but she didn’t know how.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko noticed Yonaka’s apprehensive expression, and some tension in his brother’s behavior. He seemed a little troubled. He repressed a sigh in his throat. Instead, he cleared it to make the rest pay attention to him.

“I’m sorry for troubling you, Nega. But can you check on the new prisoners? You can come along miss Yonaka, since she was the one who captured them, you know?”

That caught the seventh guardian’s interest, then looked at the girl.

“They ambushed you?”

“Uh, yeah… but I’m okay.” She shrugged.

“You should be proud of her.” Prosciutto Fairy elbowed him. “She handled them pretty well. You taught her to use that kusarigama like a goddess!”

“Well, yes, indeed. So, miss Yonaka, do you mind?”

“N-No, not at all.” She got up while the seventh guardian did the same and headed towards the door.

As the rest watched them leave, they waited for almost thirty seconds, until Prosciutto Fairy laughed.

“… That was soooo subtle…” ironized towards the future president.

“Well, no one did anything to help them, so I did. It wasn’t my purpose to be subtle.” He shrugged. “Besides, Nega had been so busy, he deserves some break. Specially with miss Yonaka around.”

* * *

“I didn’t know you were coming. I’m sorry.”

“I-It’s okay, it was a surprise anyway.” She couldn’t help but smile as they kept walking up to the third floor where cells were.

“I see.” He briefly glanced her. “Last time you were here, I was busy because of the rebels. I have more time now.”

“That’s good.”

“It’s been months.” Ha paused. “Did you do what you wanted?”

She knew what he was talking about. She softened her gaze.

“Yeah… I visited one last time the human world. It hadn’t changed much… I got to… get home.”

Both of them stopped walking. He moved to look at her face, while she did the exact thing.

“How did it go?”

“… Yeah. I thought so many things, but I feel like I’m free from everything that happened. I feel at ease. It still pains me it ended this way, I still think I could’ve done something for my brother, but… I guess it’s too late to do something about it.” She shrugged. “I only can look forward. And be happy.”

He nodded.

“Prosciutto Fairy was right at that.” She looked at him, not understanding what he meant. “I may not have said it before… but I’m really proud of you, Yonaka.” She widened her eyes. “I not only mean it referring to the training I gave you before leaving, I mean… at everything, really. You were able to overcome your fears, you faced them, and wanted to heal. That was the most important thing.”

She played with her fingers as he talked, feeling shy at the way he was praising her. When she glanced back, he seemed to be waiting for a reaction from her part, so he smiled at her. Her heart fluttered in content and felt more secured than ever.

“… Nega?” She timidly called him by his real name. He didn’t answer, but she knew he was listening attentively to her. “Umm… what do you think about… Somewhat Strange Mogeko being president? Do you think he’ll make it?”

“He will.” He said, sure of his words. “He has so many followers. The old Mogekos are gone, and in this castle, there’re only Mogekos that want to follow his ideals. We made sure of that. Though we know, in the future, we’ll always be ambushed. We Mogekos can’t reject our nature forever, and some will embrace their evil instincts no matter what.”

Yonaka pondered at that answer. Nega was always the opposite of the king mogeko, so his control was stronger than others, or so she supposed. The special Mogekos were civil as well, she wondered if that was the case when it came to control instincts. Still, their true problem was the marks they had in their skin: Prosciutto and Pancetta’s.

“… What about us?” She suddenly asked.

He frowned. Nega was about to respond, but Yonaka wouldn’t let him.

She wanted him to know, clearly.

“I want to be with you.” She blurted out. “Hopefully, I’d like to stay by your side forever.” She confessed. “I always thought that… since… the first time you died. I thought it was better to follow you and let Prosciutto take over and leave me be.” She paused. “When I told you I wanted us to die together, it wasn’t a lie.” She clenched her hands into fist. “And that’ how I still want it to happen, but not in the same way anymore.” She looked at him, determined. “I want us to be together, but because we want it, and live _through everything_. Even… even if… one day… we have to fight. I have faith we can overcome that too, and still be together, you know?” She narrowed her eyes. “But I know your family is here too. The special Mogekos… I know how important are to you… and to me too, but…”

She felt a knot forming in her throat. Her eyes filled with frustrated tears. Why couldn’t she say it? She heard Prosciutto’s voice taunting her in her mind, but she ignored it. She shook her head and sighed.

“Sorry, I…”

“Missy.” She was interrupted. “I’ve been offered to do something; it’s important for the castle, and maybe… for you and me.”

“Eh?” She blinked.

“The reason I brought the general and Moge-kov here is for that task I was ordered to. We want to form a bond from both reigns. Now we’re at peace, since Moge-ko and the king are dead. But of course, we need something to form some communication as well. I was offered to live in the Hashasky kingdom, while other Hashaskys come here, so we can learn about each other some more.”

“… Oh…” Was the only thing she could say, not sure where he was going with this.

“Come with me.”

She widened her eyes.

“Wh-What?”

“Blood Spirit has gotten stronger, he can deal with the ambushes without me. I can teach Hashaskys to fight properly, while some of them can teach Mogekos about fidelity to their kingdom. I can do what I want from now on. My brothers know my plans already, and all of them include you.”

New tears formed in her eyes and covered her mouth to stop a sob coming from her mouth.

“What? You thought I wouldn’t be with you after this?”

“N-No, I just… I’m so silly.” She giggled a little.

She guessed she still had to build more confidence in herself.

Nega sighed.

“You’re not. But you can share your insecurities, I have them too.” He avoided her gaze. “There were times I thought you wouldn’t come back.”

“But I promised…”

“I know you did, but this place caused too much pain. It would’ve been understandable if you didn’t come back.”

Yonaka smiled and kneeled to his level. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around the green Mogeko, startling him a little, but he let her anyway.

“… At least, this time you didn’t ask.”

“You told me I could!”

“I know what I said.” He considered saying something else. “… I’m glad you’re back.”

“Me too.”

“So, what do you think?”

“Hashaskys aren’t that scary as Mogekos used to be, I think I can handle them. The problem is the cold…”

“I think Prosciutto Fairy can handle that.”

“Yeah, he already knows so much about making clothes.”

“He once tried to make clothes for us.”

“Really?! That’s so cute!”

“I don’t think it is…”

“It is!” She insisted giggling. “Maybe we should ask him to make you something for the cold.”

“Missy, no.”

Yonaka kept laughing as she hugged tighter to her chest. Eventually, she felt him hugging her back.

“… You’re not used to this, are you?”

“Not really. Affection is a little weird for me. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” She ended picking him up and walked towards the first floor. Both of them knew what Somewhat Strange Mogeko said was an excuse for them to talk. They didn’t have to check on the prisoners.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to tell the news to the others. I think they are waiting for us.”

“… And we can’t do it with me… _standing_?”

“No, sorry!” She smiled at him when she noticed a faint blush warming his cheeks.

“Missy…”

Yonaka widened her smile and ran towards the first floor, where their friends were waiting for them.

A change of space, along a true place to stay for a while without moving around all the time sounded nice. Yonaka wanted to get to know more about the Hashaskys, since they helped a lot for her to heal as well, and she and Nega could help them as well just like the green Mogeko had suggested. She had faith things would turn out fine in the end.

A part of her mind kept nagging her, telling her everything would turn into a disaster, that Prosciutto would destroy her defenses, but she wanted to believe in her own strength and her new friends. She wanted to believe they’d be there for her and Nega when they’d need them the most.

She wanted to believe.

.

.

.

**_Hee, hee, hee…~ Let’s see about that!_ **

**_You know that where is Mogeko there’s nightmare… right?_ **

**_Hee, hee…_ **

**_Hee, hee, hee, hee…_ **

**_Let’s see how long you’ll play the strong girl, Yonaka-tan…_ **

**_How long until I get to break you once again…_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's it. It's over.  
> I wanted to leave a bitter taste, like, clearing the fact that, no matter what, Prosciutto would insist in make Yonaka break, so the possibility of her and Nega-Mogeko to fight as Lord Prosciutto and as Pancetta is still there. I wanted it to be like Mogeko Castle ending, with the creepy "where there's Mogeko there's a nightmare" kinda thing. So, why not. I could make a sequel about this, about how it would be, but now that's not a project I'll write, so for now, I think that's it.  
> Anyway, I hope you guys liked it!


End file.
